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Intermediate Drive - Al Faqa -22 Nov 2019


Frederic

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With our newly promoted Intermediate drivers, the long rolling dunes of Al Faqa provide a perfect playground to ramp up the pace a bit and stretch the legs of both car and driver.  We will explore the area, and alternate between side sloping, ridge crossing, and enjoy whatever this area has to offer.

This drive is for Intermediate and above level only.  Please check if you have all required tools and gear on board as per your assigned drive level

When: 22 November 2019, Friday
Meeting time: 06:00 AM, the convoy
 will move sharply at 06:15 AM
Where: Al Faqa

GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/dt57TRJ3ak4SrCkX8

Level of drive: Intermediate and above
Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance.
Plan: Drive and enjoy until about 11 AM, with some small breaks in between to have breakfast and snacks.
What to bring along: Some snacks, plenty of water - whatever you like with little extra to share, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Approximate finish time: 11 AM

 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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5 minutes ago, Srikumar said:

Congrats @Frederic for posting your first drive. All the best. Look forward to being on your drives very soon

Thanks @Srikumar :)  I am also looking forward to that !!

This would have never been possible without the guidance of people like you and others who have set up this amazing offroad-community and are giving their best efforts and dedication every weekend to enable people to learn these skills in a safe and motivating way. 

 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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TRIP REPORT

With the knowledge of having some rain that passed over UAE the last couple of days, I was a bit worried of how the FAQA area would be upon arrival. I had been making some contingency plans but in any case not one involved heading back home :) 

@Shamil and @Emmanuel were both well on time and we were all looking forward to a beautiful morning. @Javier M was probably still snoozing in his little nest. We missed you buddy. 

After dipping our toes in the sand it confirmed that the sand in that area was very compacted so we decided to deflate to 12-13 psi instead of the regular 10psi. 

After a quick chat we headed into the dunes and started exploring the area. We kept a steady pace and all managed well. At one point I attacked a small dune from the front but found a nasty pocket on the other side, that surely woke me up. Thanks to @Emmanuel for quickly reacting on the radio and notifying @Shamil to not do the same thing. 

A bit later we came across some old farm fences with barbwire still exposed and laying in the sand. Rerouted a little bit by heading deeper southwards into the dunes. Definitely an area to be careful with during night drives.  24.70738, 55.53992

Because the convoy was so small and we made quick progress, after a quick break and a smoke we decided to leave Faqa and start heading north direction Maktoum Solar Park. I've been there camping before and Emmanuel spotted some nice dunes up ahead. So suddenly this became an exploration drive. Having spotted a group of cars parked on the plain sands we noticed these were falcon trainers. 

After seeing the "creamy" dunes as Emmanuel called them, we entered and enjoyed the medium sized dunes with odd formations, but some areas became muddy holes at one point and soon @Shamil found himself stuck a few times. We met some friendly locals that also got stuck at some point with their Super Safari. But all was quickly resolved and the shovel saved us a few times that day.  We will definitely be coming back to this area, which we now called "Little Sweihan" :) 

24.67943, 55.36813

Throughout the morning we had a nice combination of side-sloping, ridge crossing, and attacking dunes of different shapes and formations. @Shamil you drove good, but keep working on getting that confidence level up.  

Around noon, we reached the Solar Park Tower. A great spot to inflate and have a chit-chat before heading back home via Al Qudra. 

24.76008, 55.35989

For a first official lead drive, I found myself thoroughly enjoying, and the small convoy gave us the possibilities to explore new grounds. Thanks guys for joining, I truly enjoyed it and hope you did too !

 

 

 

WhatsApp Image 2019-11-22 at 12.31.25.jpeg

 

Schermafbeelding 2019-11-22 om 18.24.58.png

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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Congrats Frederic on your first wonderful lead, 64 kms in 2 hours seems rocket pocket dancing a lot with velociraptor. Shamil kudos to you for keeping pace between the two and seems you are almost there with Intermediate drive level challenges and pace, keep it up.

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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Very well done @Frederic. Just found that the real name of what we called Little Sweihan is “Al-Oshoosh”, which I guess means in local arabic dialect “the nests”, but probably it has another meaning here. 

Anyway it was so fun this morning. @Shamil keep it up, I’m sure you will feel more comfortable next time. 

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