Quote:
Originally Posted by roverhi
. . . .
Croc's suck big time. Soles aren't non skid like walking on ice on a wet deck when they wear down a bit. Worst thing is they make squelching sound when wet and allow your feet to slip around in the shoe. Once wet take forever to dry out. Have found out the only way to get them to dry out in a reasonable amount of time once wet and is to take them off and let them dry out in the sun. Really disappointed as thought they'd be the ideal boat shoe. |
Yes, from experience here in Montana, Croc's perform particularly poorly on ice, but then so do most all boat shoes and bared footsies.
Before the vessel's deck becomes covered with ice, I highly recommend that you go to your
winter tire store and
purchase their shoe chains. Reference image below. The retailers likely will have the same retail program whereby they will sell you your "shoe chains" and if at the end of the
winter season you have not yet opened the box and used them you can return them for a full refund, just like they do for winter driving chains for the tires of vehicles that they sell tire
replacements for. Heck you can go for for upwards of four or five years and still return the unopened and unused winter chains for a full refund without questions asked and receive a Thank You for having shopped at their tire store. Well that at least is the norm here in the Last Best Place at Montaña. Attached below is an image of a style of shoe chains that is particularly popular in Montana. Given that they are not of the sharp spiky crampon style that would damage floors and rugs, if one was to be invited by someone in to walk onto their boat or into their home indoors with them on; with these type one can more readily wear them indoors for a short while in a building or vehicle without causing damage, at least until it becomes convenient to remove them. I routinely wear them while driving in my 4WD vehicles through the snow covered roadways in the winter.
Each climate has their own favore sailing shoes and the seasonality of such favored foot wear.
To the OP, you be inquiring during December wherein here in North America, means there be far fewer places whereby one would go barefooting. Come around late April, or early Mary, I put away my Shearling wool slippers and thick wool sock and begin to prepare to put one of our sailboats into the marina for the summer sailing season; there being the four seasons at Montana: June, July, August and Winter.
Once the ice has thawed, ir becomes time for bare feet, shorts and Tee shirts, until say it warms to nearing 40 degrees Fahrenheit, say 4 degrees C, then if times to begin pealing off the between season warm pant shorts and short sleeved shirts and start showing more skin. Albeit, I
recall one of my daughter's best teammates on her Cross Country Running Team barefooting through five inches of newly fallen snow, leading the racers on their 3 mile, regional invitation high
school race, whereas I was wearing snow shoes and boots as a spectator at the mid-point of the
race. Apparently there was far better traction with open bared toes running in the snow then with Nike style running shoes. But then he was the one on her team that would lead the team chasing down deer and elk across the fields during their weekday practice seasons. It was always inspirational to see the
kids out durance the wildlife and tackle and wrangle them after a lengthy chase. The Beaverhead County High School's mascot was naturally - a beaver. Mind you there being just the one small high
school in the county which is county is bigger than the State of Connecticut. The Cross Country running teams' motto and emblem thence that year was a parody of the famous John Deere Corporation's logo and motto - Nothing Runs Like A Deere which was modified to be Nothing Runs Like A Beaver, with an image of a beaver substituted for the John Deere Corporation's fleet footed deer.
If you have ever seen a beaver waddle on land and a deer run on land the comparison between the two is . . . well let's say, ah, distinctive. Yet her team won the State title that year wearing the logo and motto. Winning with a tremendously enthusiastic round of chants of "Go Beavs!"
When one combines the support of a serious mountaineering boot and snow chains for traction, there is tremendous support and grip. Mind you the chains and boots may tends to be a bit of overkill on dry
teak or non-skid deck surfaces if worn in warm climates.
It is going to be a while before mid-2021 when we go sitting and singing this song here on the beaches of Montana. Zac Brown's "Toes"
The closing lyric being: Going to put my ass in a lawn chair and my toes in the clay. Not a world in the worry with a PBR on the way. Life is good today. [By the way for those that may not know, a PBR = Pro Bull Rodeo for those that haven't enjoyed riding on, or at least watching a rough stock, bull riding rodeo]
Hope most of you are enjoying warm, no snow,
weather. Minus Covid, I would prefer being southbound to more tropical climates for a while.
All the best, stay
health y'all.
Dan
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions