T&T: Boat Show profiling

[Albin43SDtr]

'Lo All,

For many years, when not at work - as serviceman or civilian - , I 
usually wore only Sperry Topsider deck shoes. I quickly found that 
the siped tread in these deck shoes could pick up sand and other 
debris, to be dropped out later as the shoes flexed. When going onto 
most pleasure boats, I changed to 'dedicated' boat shoes so as to 
avoid tracking sand and oyster shell particles onto the boats. I 
always had a clean pair in a bag in my truck for this purpose. Once 
sand or oyster shell fragments get on a boat, the interaction of any 
shoe and the abrasives can damage the finish of cabin soles. I saw a 
beautiful, newly refinished floor marred by supposedly "clean" deck 
shoes (wiped off on the welcome mat) when an admiring guest and 
friend turned, leaving a 'swirl' of scratches on the floor - to the 
silent horror of the co-owner (wife) who had just completed 
refinishing it. I have no idea whether the abrasives came on board 
with his shoes or were already there. Either way, the floor was 
marred because there was some kind of abrasive on the floor. Leaving 
all our shoes at the dock would probably have precluded the damage.

None of my own boats had pristine floors, so deck shoes are fine, but 
other owners establish their own rules.

When you are someone's guest on a boat - whether its for sale or 
not......be a proper guest and abide by ALL their requests - or 
politely decline to board. They are the conditions of entry and it is 
the owner's prerogative to establish them; and it is the 
responsibility of any representative (such as a sales rep) to enforce 
them. It should go without saying, IMHO.

A pet peeve of mine is folks who think that "Please Do Not Smoke" or 
"No Smoking" signs do not apply to them.


Take care and be safe.

Wayne
Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck
Near Panama City, FL