On June 6, 1999, Faithful Assistant and I made the trek south and east to the South Orange Seaport's 10th Annual Steamboats Only event at their club pond in Meadowland Park. It turned out to be a perfect day. The weather cooperated and the turnout was excellent, with many beautiful steamboats on display and in the water.

This was our first look at a competitive steamboat event, and it was great fun to watch the boats working their way through the obstacle course of floating islands in the main event. Two other events, which had few entries but were fascination to watch, were the oval race and the drag race. I had no idea that steamboats could go so fast!

All the boats that competed, as well as quite a few that did not, were on static display all day. There were many beautiful boats, displaying a level of craftsmanship that had us lesser mortals goggle-eyed with admiration. There were also some very unique boats on display and on the water, including a steam powered airboat. Interested observers were stacked 2 and 3 deep in front of the display tables all day long, asking many questions and shooting lots of photos.

The model steamboaters we met proved to be a friendly, relaxed bunch, much like the steam railroaders we're used to associating with. Steamboating is also very much a family affair, and we saw and talked with many husbands & wives, as well as at least one father/son team.

Meadowland Park & Pond are ideal for an outing with model boats, and the South Orange Seaport group were very fortunate to be sponsored by the South Orange Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs.