52 | BOATINGMAG.COM | JULY/AUGUST 2018
PHOTOS: (FROM TOP) JON WHITTLE (2), RANDY VANCEThere’s a style that’s right for you, but our
testing revealed some interesting facts about
their function.
Even razor-siped soles will occasionally
pick up a small stone. Boat shoes should
not pick up rocks or sand. They should not
scu or smudge the deck. They should dry
quickly because they will get wet. And they
should stick to a moving deck wet or dry,
and usually dry. All sizes listed are men’s.TRACTION TEST
Most importantly, boat shoes should be
able to grip hard, wet surfaces. We created
a test ramp with textured plastic-covered
particle board and, using a protractor,
designed a gauge to refl ect the angle of in-
cline. Next, we put 10 pounds of lead shot
in each shoe and raised the test ramp to seewhen the shoe would begin skidding down
the ramp. We conducted the test on dry
and wet surfaces and noted the results.DRIP AND DRY
Many boat shoes have drainage in them.
It seems if you’re taking water over the
deck, the more drainage, the better. But
shoes designed to drain the fastest have
weep holes from the insole to the bottom
of the outsole, and if you step in a shallow
puddle of water, water can enter as well as
drain. Whether you want those drains or
not will depend on how often you’re in the
water with the shoes. The more water work
you do, the more you’ll like the drains. But
we didn’t like them when walking down a
wet street.DRAINAGE TEST
We poured a cup of water into each shoe
and let them drain for up to a minute.
Many of our test subjects, even those with
drain eyelets on the instep, didn’t drain be-
cause they were occluded by the insole.DRY TIME
After dumping standing water in the shoes,
we let them dry for two hours before taking
three moisture readings at the top of each
hour. The results were surprising. Some
shoes that did not drain dried more quickly
than those that did drain well.T h ey say your shoes tell the
most about you on a fi rst
impression. Boat shoes tell
even more. You could be a
traditional guy in mocca-
sins, a Friday o ce-casual
guy in boat-shoe Oxfords,
or a fi shing fanatic in most
of the performance shoes
we tested.to the leather quality and the desired
characteristic of boat shoes — stand-
ing up to water for years. From our
experience with boat shoes, these will
weather nicely hugging the foot. We
agree with the manufacturer: Order a
half-size over your normal shoe size.
Italian leather uppers are hand-
sewn to a durable siped outsole.
The foot bed is cork-lined beneath a
fast-drying closed-cell foam insole.
The eyelets are of Swiss stainless
steel. Fresh from the box, the leather
is stiff but fi nished in a way to mold
to your feet as the shoes age. The
rubber soles are sticky on smooth
surfaces. They are available in black,
dark brown, biscuit navy, paprika,
white and midbrown.
DRAINAGE: These shoes didn’t drain,
but the oiled leather dried completely
in less than an hour.
TRACTION DRY: 30 degrees
TRACTION WET: 30 degrees
DUNK AND DRY, 1 HOUR: 0%
DUNK AND DRY, 2 HOURS: 0%
SIZES: Half-sizes from 7 to 11
medium, plus size 12 medium
COST: $135; dooney.com