By Staff
waterhead.com
October 3, 2011

A good pair of boat shoes can mean the difference between life and death when you're working or playing near the water. Don't think so? Footwear isn't nearly as important as other more obvious safety precautions, you say? Let us hope you're never proven wrong by bitter experience. It's true that all precautions recommended when near the water are important -- but that includes making sure you have on the proper footwear, so you'll be able to keep your balance and your footing in potentially dangerous situations.

Life and death aren't typically things we like to think about when we're down by the pier, or enjoying a relaxing ride on a boat out on the water. Our minds are on other, better, more pleasant things. Yet you'd never think of allowing someone you love to take a ride on a boat without wearing a life jacket -- or at least knowing where one was within easy reach. You'd never go for a swim in the river or the ocean without a swim cap, or goggles, or a pair of ear plugs. So why would you ignore the equally important step of wearing proper shoes while on a boat? Just as those other pieces of safety equipment can make your water sports experience easier, safer and more fun, so can a good pair of boat shoes.

Surprisingly, there are some people -- people who spend a lot of time on, in or near the water -- who don't even know what boat shoes are, or why they're important. Just in case you're one of those folks, what follows in the next few paragraphs is a brief history of boat shoes.

Boat shoes (also called topsiders or deck shoes) are canvas or leather shoes with rubber soles with a siping pattern -- or a series of thin slits -- cut into the bottom. They were invented in the year 1935 by a fellow named Paul Sperry. Mr. Sperry came from something of a famous family; his younger brother was Armstrong Sperry, an award winning writer and illustrator whose book Call It Courage is still read by children to this day.

Like his brother, Paul Sperry was an avid boater, a lover of the water. Like most lovers of the water, Paul was all too familiar with the treacherous decks of boats, which became dangerously slippery when wet. One winter day in Connecticut in 1935, Paul watched as his dog, a cocker spaniel named Prince, ran back and forth across the ice of a frozen lake. Paul suddenly realized that his dog was able to maintain traction on the slick ice better than any human ever could. He examined his dog's feet and noticed the pattern of fine grooves and cracks on the pads of his paws. Seized by inspiration, Paul conceived of a shoe with a leather upper portion, and a rubber sole with grooves cut into the bottom.

The cutting of those grooves, or siping, was accomplished by a process that had only recently been invented. John Sipe had patented his sole-splitting process in the 1920s, and it proved essential to cutting the herringbone pattern into the bottom of Paul Sperry's new boat shoes. The Sperry Top-Sider was born.

The shoes, with their non-slip soles that also left no marks on the boat's deck, became instantly popular among his fellow boat enthusiasts. A mere four years after inventing his shoes, Sperry's company was purchased by the U.S. Rubber Company, which proceeded to mass-produce the boat shoes for the U.S. Navy. Sperry's Top-Siders were now worn worldwide.

Since Sperry's day, the boat shoes he created have become essential pieces of equipment for any serious and safety-conscious boater. The topsider has also become an item of fashion. People all over the world wear boat shoes during the warm spring and summer months, despite the fact that they never set foot near the water, because of their elegant and timeless design. The shoes are typically worn on sockless feet, and now come in a dizzying array of sizes and colors. What was invented for its function has since been embraced for its form.

It's a great story. But let us not forget why Sperry felt the need to invent the topsider in the first place. The deck of a boat can be a very, very dangerous place. Water, splashed up from the churning sea or tracked on by returning swimmers, does not mix well with the stained and polished wood of the typical boat deck. A wet deck on a boat is one of the most treacherous surfaces known to man, a surface that will virtually guarantee a fall if you are not careful and aware of your surroundings at all times.

Even a good pair of shoes with a good tread may not be sufficient to keep you from slipping and sliding and falling down. The obvious concern when so close to the water is drowning -- you might slip and find yourself overboard. But it is far from the only danger. Uncontrolled falls resulting from the slippery surface of the deck can result in sprains, broken bones, pulled backs, all manner of injuries. Your boating vacation can go from pleasant to painful in the blink of an eye. And you will never see it coming.

This isn't meant to put a damper on your good time. By all means, go, sail, swim, have fun! Enjoy the water! Don't be afraid of it. But respect it. Take the proper precautions. Those precautions include wearing boat shoes. Only their siped rubber soles, specifically designed for walking on the slick, slippery decks of boats, can help you maintain traction and balance.

Paul Sperry invented them almost 80 years ago and, despite the multitudes of imitators that followed him, his design has scarcely been improved upon. The simple leather shoe with the rubber sole is still the best choice for footwear when boating. You shouldn't go on a boat or near the water without a good pair of boat shoes on your feet.

Others who read this article also read Everything You Need To Know About Rowing and People Prefer Yachting as a Lifestyle.

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