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| Perhaps the ugliest shoes ever created. But, hey, at least they tone your butt! |
As we've been preparing for this trip, Vlad and I have been trying to figure out what boating stuff we need and what we don't. One of those items is boat shoes. My thought has been, "I guess we need them. I mean, everyone else has them." As you can tell from the title, I'm rethinking my logic.
Over the weekend, we were looking to replace Vlad's blown out flip flops, but the shoe store was chock full of on-sale boat shoes just begging to be tried on. There were leather, canvas, plaid, tan, navy, striped and slip-on varieties. And I just want to say, in my defense, that I really tried to like them. I really tried. I put on every type, and not only were they not comfortable, but they also looked kind of silly on me. For Vlad, it was even worse.
Maybe it's the black socks, but boat shoes just didn't work. And I honestly don't even want to think about what leather shoes soaked in salt water would smell like after a few months. I know that they are supposed to be better for decks due to the nonmarking soles, and maybe this means we can't be real sailors. But I'm saying no to boat shoes.
"They tone your butt" <<< Not according to any research that's been done on them....
ReplyDelete1st - What Joshua said
ReplyDelete2nd - It's all about the Crocs.
Crocs. Crocs. Crocs.
You mean it was all just a marketing ploy? No wonder they were on clearance!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely say no to boat shoes. I'm in your camp on this one. Add to that my recent trip to West Marine to find some short sailing boots with gum soles (we need those up here). They had about 5 kinds for men. 0 for women. No kidding. 0 kinds for women. I was just about floored. At least the sales person had the grace to look ashamed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the solidarity, though my brother pointed out that we need some kind of shoes. Otherwise, your toes suffer, and I love my toes! That's really weird that West Marine didn't have any sailing boots for women. Do they not make them?! Or was the store just not hip to the fact that women need sailing boots too?
ReplyDeleteI've just always bought men's sizes . . . Gill has some great ones that I got through WM catalog.
DeleteI think people make them, but not many. And the guy gave me some line about Mrs. Thurston Howell III and how that type loves to buy fake leopard skin boat shoes so that the 'girls at the club' would be jealous. Really??? I said, "Do I look like Mrs. Thurston Howell III?" Apparently the West Marine in Seattle doesn't know that real women like to go sailing. At least he had the grace to look sheepish.
ReplyDeleteI love my Crocs too but be careful as they are *very* slippery on wet decks. (No offense Charlotte, I know you don't get much rain in San Diego but I found out the hard way in the Pacific NorthWest) Keens are great boat shoes since most of their soles are non-marking. They have closed toes sandals and rainproof shoes. For boots look at Bogs. Keens also makes a couple of boots that might work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip, Verena! I will check out the Keens, for sure.
DeleteHaha, love this topic. I hate boat shoes. I'm with Verena, Keens are great... Although I'll admit that especially since we've been cruising in Mexico,I'm a barefoot kind of gal... I even dock barefoot on the rare occasion we don't anchor. Flip flops are my friends off the boat. Kyra
ReplyDeleteSee, I like the bare feet too. It's just that they can get hurt without shoes, and no one wants hurt feet. Have fun down in Mexico!
ReplyDeleteI like the Keens as well.. I haven't had any luck with boat shoes as well.
ReplyDeleteKeens. And take spares -- Mexican women only wear "dressy" sandals, not walking ones, and it's hard to find larger men's sizes in Mexico (Dave wears an 11 and never found shoes large enough for him except at a cruiser swap meet).
ReplyDeleteKeens go right through the water when you beach the dinghy and are great for hiking too (Crocs are horrible anywhere with thorns, which is all of Baja -- thorns will come right through the soles).