The Red and White Fleet, San Francisco’s multilingual sightseeing cruises on the bay, has been family-owned and operated since 1892. Tom Escher is the third generation of family to operate the business which started with his Grandfather bringing food and supplies to Clipper ships in the bay and moving crew back and forth from the port to the ships. Since 1892, the company has grown into what it is today.
Located at Pier 43½, Fisherman’s Wharf, on the corner of Taylor Street and the Embarcadero, they have three cruises that run daily, the Golden Gate Bay Cruise®, the Bridge 2 Bridge Cruise® and the California Sunset/Twilight Cruise®. On each tour, you learn about the city’s rich cultural history as you cruise through world-renowned landmarks. The audio tour is available in 16 languages.
You can even host a private event with Red and White Fleet on the San Francisco Bay. It’s a popular venue for hosting corporate and private celebrations. It’s perfect for groups of 75 to 400 guests.
The Red and White Fleet recently invested in a new electric boat called the Enhydra because Tom believes he can do more to help the environment. It’s the first 600 passenger all electric, aluminum hulled boat built in the United States. It will be better on marine life because electric motors are a lot quieter so there will be less noise, and the environmental footprint is near zero.
Tom brought the Red and White Fleet banking relationship to Fremont Bank many years ago. “They took the time and patience to learn about our business,” said Tom. “We’ve learned a lot about banking from them and they’ve learned a lot about Maritime from us and it has been very cooperative. When something out of the ordinary happens or something goes wrong, Fremont Bank is there to solve it and we don’t end up on sides, we work together on a solution.”
What’s next for the Red and White Fleet?
Eventually, they will expand their entire fleet to more environmentally friendly, zero emission boats, like the Enhydra.
