It's interesting to us to both see the responses and to understand the reasoning or where the tradition came from.
We wear shoes on our boats for the same reason most other people have stated here--- it's a smart safety practice.
In Hawaii, at least while I lived there (1955-1979) it was very impolite NOT to remove one's shoes when entering someone else's home. I have no idea where this tradition came from, whether it was from the Chinese or Japanese immigrants or some other source. But it applied across the board to everyone and it did't matter if you were entering someone's house, apartment, condo, etc.
It did not apply to the workplace, however. And I never knew anyone who wore shoes, including flip-flops, while wading or swimming in the water.
Several of my former co-workers in television in Hawaii have recently bought land and built houses in this area. All of them are haoles (caucasions) but we all continue the shoes-off-when-entering-the-house practice we adhered to in Hawaii.
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