Good evening - Can any of you ttol-ers recommend your favorite boat shoes?

I usually wear flip flops or tennis shoes...but I have been interested in getting some Sperrys, Huks, Columbia or similar...

Your recommendations are appreciated.

KEEN Newport H2 Water Shoes

Pretty good traction, closed toe (very important for me !), sufficient coverage in tropical settings, doubles as good reef shoes.

Non-marking as well as non-slip soles, please. Especially if one plans to play on boats belonging to others. Nothing worse than leaving black streaks all over gel-coat for someone else to scrub off. I still love the Sperry Top-Sider ( and yes I've had more than a few pair of their less-expensive knock-offs that for years were made in Wilton ME). All of those mocs fit better after a few soaks in salt water.

No shoes or sandals, etc. are allowed on our boat. Barefoot is fine!

Ditto

Shoes come off on swim platform and all feet and shoes get rinsed.
Otherwise sand all over boat. It will make it into bed!

But Sperrys or sandals for me on shore!

I like the Keen beach sandals with toe protection. Our genoa cars have broken a couple of my toes! I still usually go barefoot. They are all I have worn for the last 46 days.

Cheers, RickG

Having seen more than a few broken toes and very bloody foot accidents as well as crew slipping in barefeet and hurting other body parts I have had NO problem with Captain and working crew wearing shoes and have required it off shore or underway after dark. Rare is the deck finish that gives any kind of grip to bare feet, -- teak works pretty good and Shannon Yachts have a great deck finish I never see any other manufacturer use.
***.Sperry makes a wide variety of good shoes leather and canvas, Harken shoes were always my favorite but are hard to find anymore.

I recommend having 3 different types.
Flip flops, Teva type sandals & Sperry or similar Leather topped Boat shoes

I wear my Sperry Billfish 3-Eye shoes all the time, not just while boating. I like a shoe with a thick, cushioned sole, and they qualify.

Same goes for my Ecco sandals -- great for boating and life in general. I tried a couple of other brands of sandals, and the design of the straps made them dig into the tops of my feet. The Ecco are the most comfortable that I've found.

Dan

Thanks everyone-

I used to exclusively wear flip flops or no shoes. More recently I have spent some time offshore passage-making and each of these captains required proper footwear, (sandals did not count).

The older I get too, the less I enjoy walking on old wooden docks with bare feet, or catching the flops on loose dock planks.

So, thank you to all who have commented, I appreciate the tips...and I will probably go with some Sperry's, but we'll see.

My preference is Rockport.