The engine is running fine but why is there no propulsion?

    If you see this in your bilge you better start investigating...take the Vetus flexible coupling appart and look at the state of the rubbers Mmmm that looks bad....so that is the reason why I found constantly rubber bits in the bilge! So this is going to be an extensive repair. Remove the shaft brake. To remove the brake disk and Vetus flexible coupling you have to lift the engine and pull it back which requires the removal of everything that is potentially causing interference such as the exhaust, syphon and tie-wraps holding the wiring to the engine frame then hoist it using a mizzen mast halyard on the main winch as it weighs 250 kg.

    Cracks in the boom

    Booms work together with the rigging and masts to hold your sails up and without these essential parts you cannot sail. Here is what happened to our main sail boom. When the boat was bought back in 2017 the middle sheet attachment on the boom was 'different'. A few Super Maramu's I saw also had this arrangement so it seemed fine. A factory original SM has 3 equal plates A 54 has a combined plate for the sheet But read on and please learn from my mistakes!

    About Malaka Queen

    Sailing vessel Malaka Queen is a 53 foot ketch build by Chantiers Amel in 2002. She was bought in September 2017 on the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

    Sailing the Red Sea

    The Suez canal from the Mediterranian to the Red Sea Here is a proposed route for a 1500 nm south bound Red Sea passage via the Suez canal to Djibouti and the Indian ocean. Note the Red sea is normally RED hot a bit more South, only from October to March the temperatures are moderate. Our Suez canal transit will thus be in September. It must be pre-arranged with an agent which can be the Prince of the Red Sea.

    Where is Malaka Queen now?

    The journeys of sailing vessel Malaka Queen around the world. We prefer to anchor in remote places, be surrounded by nature and stay as little as possible in marinas as our planet earth is a very beautifull place. Enjoy the places we visited on this blog.

    Total sailed on 22/02/2025: 43.539 nautical miles