Leather or rubber?

There is an old Navy saying that opines that the two most useless things on
a ship are a lawnmower and an Admiral. I have a third suggestion - leather
sailing boots. My Dubarry leather boots, so comfy and warm during weekend
RORC races are absolutely useless on trips like this. They simply never dry
out. They get soaked in salt water and, when dried out in the sun, the
water evaporates, leaving the salt still in the leather. Now we all know
that salt is hydrophilic, so in high humidity, it will draw water out of the
air. So my poor Dooberrys (as Nick likes to call them) are in a constant
state of salt-impregnation and rehydration, leaving them fluxing between two
states - slimey, wet and cold or looking like a pair of salt-baked sea bass.
If it were environmentally sound to do so, I would have tossed them into the
Atlantic by now.
luckily, I also brought along a pair of neoprene boots. These keep my feet
warm and toasty dry all night. They may not create such a good impression
on Cowes High St, but I know where my priorities lie. I'm now a confirmed
rubber man.
Now there's an idea! I could take my Dubarrys along to Cowes Week and sell
them - in their state, they would have immense sailing street cred....
Trev