Hello everyone,

Apologies if this has been covered before but a quick search didn't return anything.

This far I have been windsurfing with bare feet but my feet have been cut by all kinds of things.
Last week at Safety Bay, something stung my toe and it hurt like hell. Felt like a bee sting and took more than an hour for the pain to go away.

I have windsurf booties but as I have wide feet, they give me cramp in about half an hour.
For my running I use Asics shoes 2 sizes too big and 4E width.
I wonder if there are any booties that are wider than normal.

Has anyone tried to windsurf with Teva sandals? That might at least protect the bottom of your feet, although you might get stuck with the straps in your strap.

Cheers,

Michael

What you are after is a soft sole boot. This is what I use. They dont slip in case thats what you are thinking as there is a non slip sole.

C4AC11 Billabong 2010 PLATINUM 5mm GBS Sealed Wetsuit Boot

You may or may not find them in Australia though, but they are light and postage is cheap and the dollar is strong.

I use reef shoes that you can get cheaply at BigW etc.

Good tips. I had a look at the boots online. Tempting but it is buying blind and could add to my collection of too tights booties.
I will give the reef shoes a go to start off with.

munted windsurfers foot like mine last year...

I bought some Vibram 5 fingers off ebay for a very reasonable price.

They are quite wide and have very hard soles on the bottom.

The KSO models are recommended for water sports but they are crap. They do not seal well around your foot so sand and shell grit will get in and that can be really uncomfortable. The upper is thin mesh (like sheer curtain material) so it offers not much protection.

The Flows have neoprene uppers and they might be better.

They feel a little bit odd. They have a hard sole under your feet and under your toes with a soft, pivoting section between. You can feel the hard ridge pushing your toes as your toes flex.

Whatever you do don't pay full price for them. $189 is a blatant ripoff. $40 is much more reasonable.

I am very happy with my Neil Pryde lowcut booties. They fit my feet well. I don't know if they would be any good for you.

I reckon you'd have to do a bit more researching due to your wide feet. Aussies have wider feet in general than say yanks coz we've been wearing thongs since kids so I'd recommend asking aussie companies like Rip Curl and Billabong what their widths are.

I don't have wide feet but stumpy ones with a high arch, I have hell of a time finding good fitting footwear. I bought cheap BigW "Zone" water shoe things and they destroyed themselves in 3 sessions after my toes went through the front of 'em, smaller size wouldn't fit my arch. I'm now wearing cut down divers boots, although they give supreme protection from cuts they feel absolutely awful and give my tootsies poor circulation. I can't feel the board very well due to the heavier sole and they are a cahn to get into the footstraps. But the latter is more of a footstrap adjustment issue and brain adjustment, I think. However the circulation issue could be a problem....whichever it's taking away joy from my relearning process.

If I had my time again, which I might still do, I'd get reef/indo surfing boots (low cuts). Average price $60. Unfortuantely they are one of those things that you have to try on before you buy. With our exchange rates buying from OS has no advantage with these items, it's actually about the same due to freight and the biggest disadvantage is you don't get to try them on!

Select to expand quote

busterwa said...

munted windsurfers foot like mine last year...

Nasty....

Cuts and grazes are a part of the package, my advice is toughen up, cut heal skin thickens soon you will have bullet proof feet.

So man up and grin and bare it.... Cos if it doesn't kill ya it makes you stronger grrrrrr Yeah!!!

wearing booties seriously reduces feel.

i wear a pair of old shoes to edge of water for protection.

after sailing i put them back on to car.

Gee! Foundry boots would seem the go.
With feet that size I thought you probably have more trouble treading on your knuckles.
You quite sure the bee sting wasnt a tiger shark or large sting ray trying to escape.
Apologies for this post up front Michael, I just couldnt help myself.[}:)]

Actually would Dunlop Volleys be any good?

I use some neoprene booties I got from a sailing shop about $40..? Not sure of wide fittings although my feet are pretty wide.They used to have fairly thin soles ( but still good protection) but the later soles are a bit thicker which are a bit of a pain at times getting into the straps if your straps aren't sitting correctly.

Booties/reef shoes whatever do reduce feeling somewhat, but not significantly. I prefer bare feet for feel, but if I'm sailing somewhere where the bottom is uncertain or there are stingy/bitey things, or even in winter for warmth I will wear the reef shoes or booties.

I use old shoes or boots at the edge of the beach.

Not elegant, but works: attached to a buoy a bit off shore.
Drive there, tie the shoes onto said buoy, go have fun, pick up shoes on the way back.
Ugly, but works.

These are the best booties I have owned.

http://www.neilpryde.com/2000/2k-lc-round.html



Comfortable and very robust and they seal well enough to keep sand and shells out. I can tuck my wettie legs into them for a better seal.

Booties in general, and these ones in particular, give far better grip than bare skin, both on the deck and in the straps. So much so that I do not use wax or deck pads on my SUP or surfboards I use for kiting. The booties grip fine and I can get them in and out of the straps with no problems.

I have fairly big feet and I think they're wide across the toes. I normally wear a size 46-47 shoe. My booties are size 43.

None of us will have any idea how freaky wide your feet are so I cannot hazard a guess as to how you will go. All you can really do is try some out.

I wear booties under sufferance when there are lots of rocks or other nasties around. Also good for really cold winter days. But they hurt my big toes as the feet slide forward and jam up against the front of the booties. If I could find some that didn't do this I'd probably wear them more often as it would be one less place getting a blasting from the cancer-inducing sun.

Booties are also good for general protection of feet from fin cuts and other bashings on gear that happen. I bent my big toe back really hard the other week and could hardly walk afterwards. I reckon it wouldn't have happened if encased in a bootie.

Are there any types out there that don't end up with your toes crushed up the front when sailing?

(sarcasm)
Your not supposed to stand in the water while windsurfing....Your feet should be in the straps or on the board when your jibing

Tip #1:(i learnt the hard way) just dont stop on the weed stop on the sand its like a whitish blue colour. Prevention is better than cure !!!

Its different story when you are surfing reef though The prevention there is
Tip#2 dont fall off

if your not falling of then your not learning anaything new
it's ezzy to sail around and not fall off
but learning some thing new you are bound to fall off
i use west indo boot very good
would rather bear feet but got sick of cutting up my feet

booties are great. you can warm your feet up by tucking your wettie into them so when you pee..........

google Okespor Gorge booties you might want them..been using them for years now..regards

I wear the NP 5000 shoes, my wide feet are ok in them and highly recommend them. Normally size 11, I wear size 10, any larger and your feet slip forward too much. I do get agony from too narrow but not shoes causing this but straps/shoe now being too narrow. I run my straps in one screw hole wider than normal (makes angle of front strap slightly wrong but cannot sail when too narrow).
One last tip, sew the end of the velcro strap in place once adjusted correctly or it keeps coming undone. Once sewn boots fit correctly, come off ok and I no longer step on strap during gybes
I wouold not buy without trying on, go see Reg at WSP and try some on, when he says wear one size smaller than normal I think he is right!

Has anyone tried these? I thought about getting a pair.

www.vibramfivefingers.com/

I posted something about them above. I don't think much of them. The genuine ones are way too expensive and not made for the purpose.

I think they're the footwear equivalent of PowerBalance.

Select to expand quote

DrJ said...

Cuts and grazes are a part of the package, my advice is toughen up, cut heal skin thickens soon you will have bullet proof feet.

So man up and grin and bare it.... Cos if it doesn't kill ya it makes you stronger grrrrrr Yeah!!!

You obviously never sailed places like Gnaraloo... even some of the sailors I'd consider mindblowingly awesome carry boots with them tied to their harness for emergencies. I have certainly seen a fair share of people who's holiday was ruined because they cut up their feet.

Select to expand quote

fullmoon said...

Actually would Dunlop Volleys be any good?

I have used Dunlop Volleys from time to time when windsurfing in dubious muddy bottomed waters, after doing a lot of research and having used them for whitewater kayaking, bushwalking and sailing. They have excellent grip, come in all sizes and are cheap. My only issue for windsurfing is getting the foot under the straps, but that may be a matter of footstrap adjustment. For the price, I think they're worth trying.

Interesting discussion on the merits of said shoe on a bushwalking forum:
groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/aus.bushwalking/v5R6vd_SBsg

Select to expand quote

Gidget said...

fullmoon said...

Actually would Dunlop Volleys be any good?

I have used Dunlop Volleys from time to time when windsurfing in dubious muddy bottomed waters, after doing a lot of research and having used them for whitewater kayaking, bushwalking and sailing. They have excellent grip, come in all sizes and are cheap. My only issue for windsurfing is getting the foot under the straps, but that may be a matter of footstrap adjustment. For the price, I think they're worth trying.

Interesting discussion on the merits of said shoe on a bushwalking forum:
groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/aus.bushwalking/v5R6vd_SBsg

I reckon Volleys would be a pain to get into the straps!
I always wear booties and yesterday I'd rigged up and was waiting for wind and decided to walk the gear into the water to keep it cool.I walked about 5 ' and cut my heel..[}:)] I'll be wearing booties 100% from now on.[}:)] The sailing booties I wear don't have a problem with your toes crushing. They have a velcro strap that goes over the top of your foot to help keep them in place.

Select to expand quote

sboardcrazy said...

...I reckon Volleys would be a pain to get into the straps!...

This was before I bought bootees, and I don't sail in those sort of place much. At the time I took the DV's off and tied them to the mast/boom when I got into deeper water, but as suggested, tying them to a bouy would also be a good idea.

Thanks for all the tips and advice. I ended up going to Anaconda and bought some Seak low cut dive boots. The Medium sized ones fit nicely and were wide enough.They were 50% off, so I only paid $30.
Tried them out yesterday at Safety bay and they worked a treat. Not much harder to get into the straps either.
It was nice to have some peace of mind when walking around.