As the Mexican flag flapped in the wind high above the Patapsco River, the crew on the decks of the Cuauhtemoc prepared for the final leg of their trip up the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore awaited them.
One sailor dabbed at a white wall with a paintbrush, giving it a final gleam. Others climbed up the masts to partially unfurl the sails. Using an electric pump, another pair of sailors pulled in the anchor, caked with black mud from the bottom of the Chesapeake.
With a few short blows from his boatswain's whistle yesterday, a lieutenant directed scores of sailors up the ship's three tall masts. They spread out along the spars and rigging, and stood with their arms spread open as the ship cruised by such landmarks as the Domino Sugar factory and Fort McHenry and docked at the Inner Harbor.
"Awesome. One word: Awesome," said Ginny Powell, an eco-tour operator from Cape May, N.J., who was in downtown Baltimore on business when she saw the ship with her companion, Ed Garrison. They rushed to the Inner Harbor to watch it dock. "I must say, they did Mexico proud the way they came in," she said.
For the Cuauhtemoc, Baltimore was the third stop since it left its home port of Acapulco a month ago. The ship, which is used to train Mexican naval officers and enlistees, arrived in Baltimore after having spent several days in Havana, Cuba. After five days at the Inner Harbor, where free tours will be available, the ship will sail to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and later to several European nations.
The Cuauhtemoc's arrival in the city is part of a tradition of tall ship visits, which are organized annually by Sail Baltimore, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting sailing and maritime tourism in the region. The group works with governments from other countries to arrange visits from ceremonial naval vessels, which are also often used in sailing competitions.
With Mexican music blaring from its speakers, the Cuauhtemoc lived up to its reputation for making grand entrances into ports around the world.
"This ship is very famous and admired in all tall ship races and festivals," the ship's captain, Mario Carbajal Ramirez, said through an interpreter.
The ship is a 270-foot-long barque with a main mast that rises 157 feet above the deck. Baltimore is its third stop on a seven-month-long voyage, starting this year's season of visits by tall ships to the city.
