An Ode To My Boots

Subtitled: REI makes excellent products.

I bought these boots for my first research cruise on the NOAA Albatross IV in April, 2004, and have brought them to sea ever since.  The metal eyes have corroded to a beautiful aquamarine, the soles are worn, and the leather is broken in.  On Thursday, during a botched deployment and retrieval of our small boat off the Gunter, my boots took a prolonged bath in the ocean. After spending three days in the hot and arid engine room, they are finally dry.  Now they are even more salt-encrusted, just how I like them.