“There are good ships and wood ships
And ships that sail the sea,
But the best ships are friendships,
May they always be!”
The Loopers Toast
“Loopers” are boaters who sail (usually in power boats) around the Eastern US in a “great loop.” Up the East Coast and the Hudson River then through the Great Lakes or Ontario, Canada to Chicago. Then down the Mississippi basin to the Gulf of Mexico. Finally completing the loop by sailing around Florida. The people that do it are self selecting as fun-loving adventurers who like to talk about boats. And when they meet up they have a delicious drink and say this toast. They also introduced me to the term “docktails” a portmanteau of dock and cocktails.
I know about this because my long time friends Gene and Carole B. have the power catamaran you can see, moored outside in the above picture. They have done the Great Loop twice and I have had the good luck to be the last mate on several segments of the trip. It is a wonderful experience, both relaxing and energizing. The photo was taken in Joliet, Indiana a couple of days into our recent trip from Chicago to St Louis.
Other sources call this toast an “Irish Proverb” and they could be right. It can be both and in my mind it is still the Loopers Toast.