If you’ve spotted the towering masts along the Embarcadero this week and wondered what they belong to, that’s the ARM Cuauhtémoc BE-01. It’s the Mexican Navy’s flagship tall ship, and one of the most storied sail-training vessels in the world.
She arrived Wednesday and leaves Sunday. You still have time!
Public boarding is free and open on both remaining days: Friday, September 25 from 10am to 8pm, and Saturday, September 26 from 10am to 8pm. Once on deck, you can walk the ship’s intricate rigging, explore her masts, and meet members of the Mexican Navy crew — roughly 280 officers, midshipmen, and sailors who live and train aboard her full-time.
The Cuauhtémoc is currently on her 46th training voyage, a 92-day North Pacific cruise taking her through ports in Mexico, the US, and Canada. In more than four decades at sea, she has visited 234 ports across 75 countries and logged over 905,000 nautical miles.
Want to watch her sail away? Here’s how
The ship’s final public moment is a “Farewell at the Dock” gathering at 9:30am on Sunday, September 27 at Piers 15–17. The Cuauhtémoc officially departs at 10am, and she’ll head back out through the bay the same way she came in, making the waterfront and the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge prime spots to watch her go.
Built in Bilbao, Spain, and commissioned into the Mexican Navy in 1982, the Cuauhtémoc measures 297 feet in length and serves as both fleet flagship and floating classroom, where Mexican Naval Academy midshipmen train in seamanship, leadership, and navigation. The visit is organized by Ocean Alliances, the San Francisco nonprofit (formerly Sails San Francisco) that has been hosting international naval tall ships since 1999.
Learn more: OceanAlliances.org