What about footwear

[Bad Obsession]

I go with bare feet on a cruise. I do carry around a pair of sandles that I take in the dingy with me and I will wear them when I beach the dingy (you never know what is at the bottom on the water when you step out).

I have a pair of sperry topsiders and they are fine, and then I have a pair of traditional boaters. Each has their place, which is in the cabin of the boat in nice weather

 

[jimg]

Traditional Sperry Topsiders should be banned from any use on a wet boat deck. They are downright dangerous. I am presently using the sneaker style Sperry Spinnaker shoes. I have also had very good results from Reeboks tennis shoes; and Vans skate shoes with natural rubber soles are stickier than almost any boat shoe, and come in a wide variety of styles.

 

[Bad Obsession]

When I use to race I was foredeck crew. I got good at running around a wet foredeck in whatever I had on (usually cheap deck shoes).

That being said, there was a reason why most sailors during the tall ship age went barefoot aboard a ship.

 

[sand sailor]

bought a pair of nike's look alot like converse all stars awsome traction for cold weather wool socks keep the feet dry

 

[TimCup]

I'm Back!!

First off, I wear the Sperry Topsiders, with great luck (why don't our picky posters call Sperry to task- we can't really walk on the topsides, can we??). I recently slipped down a flight of stairs on my oldest pair, as they've gotten hard, and do poorly on carpet. But While painting trim 2 1/2 stories on top of the house, I couldn't get any kind of grip on my metal roof, and was sure I would die. On a lark, I brought a hose up top, and keeping the roof wet, I could walk around on those same hard topsiders, and they gripped like velcro!!

I have 2 pair of topsider flip-flops, regular and "dress-up" (this is Florida, after all!), and regular leather deck shoes that I only wear in winter (below 80 degrees- still Florida...).

I never go barefoot. 240 lbs means anything I step on goes into my foot with 240 lbs of pressure! Guess that's why little kids can go barefoot anytime...

I'm surprised others are so down on the Sperrys. Sorry for your luck..

cup

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

I use cheap(like at Kmart or walmart) tennis shoes - canvas tops semi-nonslip soles. These things are called 'Boaters' and are about $10 . Since I only wear them on the boat(using regular sneakers to set up at beginning and end of season) and they're slip on they do last for quite a while. Got soaked with a bad wave? they'll dry in a couple of minutes(unless it's cold) if you have to take them off. Gunkholing and jumped off the bow into mud instead of sand? maybe the discoloration wont come out - for 10 bucks. who cares? Just bought a replacement pair at the end of last season after 5 years-old ones stiill servicable but more brown than white by now and just decided to change.

 

[PCP777]

I've got the Sperry Largo Slip-Ons, they are comfortable, dry quickly and so far I haven't slipped on deck but I haven't really sailed in any adverse conditions yet.

I did feel like I could lose them, hanging my feet over the side in last Wednesday's race. Probably the next thing I get will be some kind of sandals. I won't do bare foot.

 

[zeehag]

i wont wear top sLiders at all---i have been a barefoot sailorette for 53 or 54 yrs now---only broken toes a coupla times--isnt any big deal--hurts but what else can ya do with toes anyway????? i wear uggs in winter because i have bad ciirculation and they work.....but are slickery as haaaiiiilllll......but i have wide decks and nothing in the way fo rbanging toes and killing feets......only decent deck shoe i was ever introduced to on a personal level was the omega reef warrior......they were awesome tooo bad not found anywhere anymore .........