My previous pair of boat shoes was a Sperry Top-sider which I had owned for several years. I tend to buy one pair of shoes and wear them till failure. I have to admit that the Top-siders are still very wearable but the rears of the soles have started to separate from the shoes and the uppers are a bit less waterproof than they were when I originally got them. As I was going on a cruise I decided to get a new pair of boat shoes just so I wouldn't suffer a blow-out while on vacation.

I looked at just replacing the Top-siders but just couldn't bring myself to pay $150 for a pair of shoes so I branched out to other manufacturers. Years ago I used to buy nothing but Timberlands but their price kept going up and the quality kept going down which is why I thought I'd give the Top-siders a go. While looking I saw these shoes, well rated for less than half the price of the Top-siders so I decided to try them out.

Overall I'm pretty happy with them.

Firstly I wore 12M's in the Top-siders and the 12M's for the Sebago was spot on - I had expected some differences in sizing but was pleasantly surprised that they had the same size feel as my previous shoes.

They are a heavier shoe than the Top-siders, about 5.5 oz per shoe (yes I measured, I was actually surprised at the weight of them compared to my others) but once I have them on I never even noticed the difference.

The major difference between the two shoes is the leather. Both seem to have good thickness but the Sebago leather was much less supple than the Top-siders. Initially this was a bit annoying but after a month or so they've worn in to where I don't notice them.

I quite like the level of padding in the shoe, it's not too much but certainly not too little. I've so far haven't encountered the problem of tired feet from standing up but then again I'm only doing that for an hour or so at a time.

Overall the build quality seems very good but I'll need to wear them for a while to see how they hold up. If you're really just wearing them for boat shoes then I suspect you'll get many years of use out of them.