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Newbie/Fewbie drive Kalba/Maliha - 20 Dec morning


Rahimdad

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As the name suggests this drive is good for newbies and fewbies alike. The plan is to have the initial part as a newbie drive for about 2 hours from Mahafiz to Fossil Rocks, and we will break for a bite and some drinks before the newbies can be escorted out. From the Fossil Rocks to Faya will be a fewbie level and hoping for a quick run to reach Faya and have about 30 minutes of pa time there. Newbies and Fewbies will have a great chance to see and learn the real fun that off-roading offers in a very safe and organized environment.

Since timing will be crucial I request everyone to respect everyone and be on time.

When: 20 December 2019

Meeting time: 6:00 AM, the convoy will move at sharp 6:15 AM

Where: Adnoc Petrol Station Maleha Road

GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/ye28yTnTSYr

Level: Newbie, Fewbie and above.

Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance.

Plan: Drive, train and enjoy till about 11:30 AM

What to bring along: Snacks - whatever you like with little extra to share, water, liquids, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Approximate finish time:  Newbies about 9:30 AM and Fewbies around 11:30 AM

Please RSVP on the below calendar.

 

 

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Today, with a whole lot of other important lessons we found out that 'popping out' to the desert and 'popping out' in the desert are two completely different things.

Our intrepid crew was not prepared to give up without a fight, however when it comes to popping, there are just some things that won't however hard you try. 

Roshan, thanks for giving us the chance to see an unusual and very technical recovery. 

The other key note of the day us that while there might only be one letter difference between newbie and fewbie the promotion to more complex, technical challenges brought a whole new world of fun and a few frustrations. 

Once again, excellent (and truly restrained) leadership from Rahimdad. I am sure Srikumar enjoyed sweeping up today ... allowing him to be a little less restrained than usual. 

Emmanuel, ably assisted by maman, kept us on track and very healthily fed. An asset to any drive. 

Shamil, it's a real shame you make all your passengers feel sick ;-) . I'll be your passenger any time. 

Jeepie ... thanks for returning the favour of last week and allowing us to dig you out this week. (Photos attached). 

Bottom line, this little club is simply the most supportive encouraging and effective way to learn how to navigate the dunes, while having fun and meeting wonderful warm welcoming people.

Thanks once again.

Edited by Wrangeld
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Thanks @Roshan Abraham for your kind words.

@Wrangeld you always leave me falling to the floor laughing and totally impressed with your writing skills as much as I enjoy you driving up the dunes.

Trip Report - So it was a chilly morning, I wore my jacket to the meeting point declaring winter has started in UAE. Even Superman feels cold, hahaha. The best part was even though @Shamil's son was not feeling well, he messaged me that he was going to be delayed, but reached in good time along with @Srikumar who also got slightly delayed. Unfortunately @AKR was going to bring his father to the drive, but since he was about 25 minutes delayed beyond the start point he volunteered to stay back and join us next time. This meant we had 6 cars only but 8 drivers as couple of our cars carry a spare driver. On the way to the deflation point we decided to enter Khatim instead of Mahafiz. Once we reached there was a sign that read "Do not approach", with some small print saying "Sharjah Police Headquarters" so taking it as Do not approach Sharjah Police headquarters I was under pressure from the word go to have no incidents on the way as we were not allowed to approach Sharjah Police HQ.

After a brief brief and convoy numbering we were off. Within the first 200 meters we had a couple of refusals and a pop-out. I was very pleased to see @Shamil taking the lead to prepare to fix the pop-out, it is great to see on his first attempt he got 99% things correct and needed just a 1% change of jack angle to lift the car and start something that was just not supposed to be sorted on the day. Everybody was patient and we continuously tied different angles and approach to fix the pop-out with @Shamil on the forefront to help out in anyway he could. With one last attempt from @Srikumar and myself it was decided to change the tire. The spare was not that big an issue, however removing the tire meant we needed an allen key to get to the nuts, however with the stock lug wrench would not reach the nuts due to its thickness. At this point I had to look at my overly loaded truck bed to eventually find something that would fit. From here it took almost no time to remove the tire and replace it with the spare. The spare was a bit smaller, but that would not bother us in the desert and worked out well, except it kept leaking air, so after every half an hour it would go from 15 PSI to 12 PSI and we would have to refill it.

The drive from this point seemed like a breeze as we quickly reached the top of Fossil Rocks with another team of off-roaders waiting around for some reason. We accessed the area and decided the best way was to go straight down. With a quick brief we had 3 cars take on the wild stuff, while the other 3 decided to go around the Fossil Rocks. After I came down half way to access the ever changing slip face of Fossil Rocks, @Shamil was next to go all the way down to be sure all was clear for @Wrangeld. @Emmanuel, @Roshan Abraham and @Srikumar in the meantime came around the corner to meet us up o our way to Faya. Upon checking with @Jeepie she was like that was not scary at all. Earlier in the day I learned that she was into Enfield bikes and got to meet a group at the meeting point while she was wearing the T-Shirt. Having been in off-road situations on a heavy bike must have hardened her not to feel scared coming down the Fossil Rock slip face the fist time.

It was now play time and we started to move to Faya. There were excellent opportunities to play around and we quickly reached Faya with very little delays in form of a couple of refusals, but everyone was absolutely amazing at reaching on top of Faya from the back side. The distant tree giving shade was going to be our resting point to have a quick bite and discussion before we were off for our final session. So as we sat around and feasted on some well deserved breakfast, the thought of the last part occupied our minds. For the first time in Carnity history it took us lesser time to pack up the stuff than it took us for the setup. Before I could even get into my car all were ready with their engines roaring and ready to go. With another inflation for @Roshan Abraham with the help of @Shamil bhai we were off to the base of Faya. Everybody had their turns and enjoyed it a lot, but unfortunately none of us were able to conquer Faya from the front face, I think mainly due to some nasty bumps just where you are supposed to gain momentum.

With Friday Prayer time close at hand I decided to quickly head to the Masjid in Mahafiz with a fast paced off-road section close to the road just in case we got held up. As we headed closer to teh Mahafiz area I was tempted by one lovely large dune and decided to go over it instead of around it as I knew the Masjid was about 2 minuted ride from the other side. However as everybody manged well and to a certain point, on the top I found the hard way that it was all large rocks on the other side, which meant I had to self recover by reversing with the utmost precision to make it back with the group. Once down we headed back to the track around the dune and heard the Azaan go off. What a time to end the drive and get the Muslims to prayers in the nick of time. The drive ended with our usual warm hugs with a promise to meet again in the ever challenging dunes.

All in all I was very happy to have a bunch a wonderful people around me full of energy, smiles and the will to keep going. Above all it gave me great pleasure to see the growth in @Shamil who is now taking on the role of a reliable help at hand when you need him. until we meet again it farewell and take care.

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Rahim bhai. Your talent for writing is exceptional and means if I intend to write anything in the future I shall have to 'up my game' 😏

This was truly a magnificent run, expertly led and even more expertly recorded. 

Looking forward very much to the next installment. Written and mobile. 

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Thank you @Wrangeld for your kind words sir. You inspired me with your write up. This way we all improve in off roading and written English. Long live the Queen.

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/FNvXQENZXxvpnD7q8

For anyone who would like to see some pictures from the last 4 drives we have been on. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Wonderful group of people that made me feel very welcome 

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14 hours ago, Rahimdad said:

Thanks @Roshan Abraham for your kind words.

@Wrangeld you always leave me falling to the floor laughing and totally impressed with your writing skills as much as I enjoy you driving up the dunes.

Trip Report - So it was a chilly morning, I wore my jacket to the meeting point declaring winter has started in UAE. Even Superman feels cold, hahaha. The best part was even though @Shamil's son was not feeling well, he messaged me that he was going to be delayed, but reached in good time along with @Srikumar who also got slightly delayed. Unfortunately @AKR was going to bring his father to the drive, but since he was about 25 minutes delayed beyond the start point he volunteered to stay back and join us next time. This meant we had 6 cars only but 8 drivers as couple of our cars carry a spare driver. On the way to the deflation point we decided to enter Khatim instead of Mahafiz. Once we reached there was a sign that read "Do not approach", with some small print saying "Sharjah Police Headquarters" so taking it as Do not approach Sharjah Police headquarters I was under pressure from the word go to have no incidents on the way as we were not allowed to approach Sharjah Police HQ.

After a brief brief and convoy numbering we were off. Within the first 200 meters we had a couple of refusals and a pop-out. I was very pleased to see @Shamil taking the lead to prepare to fix the pop-out, it is great to see on his first attempt he got 99% things correct and needed just a 1% change of jack angle to lift the car and start something that was just not supposed to be sorted on the day. Everybody was patient and we continuously tied different angles and approach to fix the pop-out with @Shamil on the forefront to help out in anyway he could. With one last attempt from @Srikumar and myself it was decided to change the tire. The spare was not that big an issue, however removing the tire meant we needed an allen key to get to the nuts, however with the stock lug wrench would not reach the nuts due to its thickness. At this point I had to look at my overly loaded truck bed to eventually find something that would fit. From here it took almost no time to remove the tire and replace it with the spare. The spare was a bit smaller, but that would not bother us in the desert and worked out well, except it kept leaking air, so after every half an hour it would go from 15 PSI to 12 PSI and we would have to refill it.

The drive from this point seemed like a breeze as we quickly reached the top of Fossil Rocks with another team of off-roaders waiting around for some reason. We accessed the area and decided the best way was to go straight down. With a quick brief we had 3 cars take on the wild stuff, while the other 3 decided to go around the Fossil Rocks. After I came down half way to access the ever changing slip face of Fossil Rocks, @Shamil was next to go all the way down to be sure all was clear for @Wrangeld. @Emmanuel, @Roshan Abraham and @Srikumar in the meantime came around the corner to meet us up o our way to Faya. Upon checking with @Jeepie she was like that was not scary at all. Earlier in the day I learned that she was into Enfield bikes and got to meet a group at the meeting point while she was wearing the T-Shirt. Having been in off-road situations on a heavy bike must have hardened her not to feel scared coming down the Fossil Rock slip face the fist time.

It was now play time and we started to move to Faya. There were excellent opportunities to play around and we quickly reached Faya with very little delays in form of a couple of refusals, but everyone was absolutely amazing at reaching on top of Faya from the back side. The distant tree giving shade was going to be our resting point to have a quick bite and discussion before we were off for our final session. So as we sat around and feasted on some well deserved breakfast, the thought of the last part occupied our minds. For the first time in Carnity history it took us lesser time to pack up the stuff than it took us for the setup. Before I could even get into my car all were ready with their engines roaring and ready to go. With another inflation for @Roshan Abraham with the help of @Shamil bhai we were off to the base of Faya. Everybody had their turns and enjoyed it a lot, but unfortunately none of us were able to conquer Faya from the front face, I think mainly due to some nasty bumps just where you are supposed to gain momentum.

With Friday Prayer time close at hand I decided to quickly head to the Masjid in Mahafiz with a fast paced off-road section close to the road just in case we got held up. As we headed closer to teh Mahafiz area I was tempted by one lovely large dune and decided to go over it instead of around it as I knew the Masjid was about 2 minuted ride from the other side. However as everybody manged well and to a certain point, on the top I found the hard way that it was all large rocks on the other side, which meant I had to self recover by reversing with the utmost precision to make it back with the group. Once down we headed back to the track around the dune and heard the Azaan go off. What a time to end the drive and get the Muslims to prayers in the nick of time. The drive ended with our usual warm hugs with a promise to meet again in the ever challenging dunes.

All in all I was very happy to have a bunch a wonderful people around me full of energy, smiles and the will to keep going. Above all it gave me great pleasure to see the growth in @Shamil who is now taking on the role of a reliable help at hand when you need him. until we meet again it farewell and take care.

Right from the get go, the drive was exciting as @Rahimdadbhai had told us during the briefing. And just a few minutes into the drive, i was surprised to see @Roshan Abrahams tire had popped out - prior to this, i always came across pop outs, once the car has been driven for a considerable amount of time.

Thank you so much for your kind words @Rahimdadbhai. I am so grateful for having learned so much in a limited time (less than a year) under the tutelage of the carnity seniors - @Rahimdad bhai, @Gaurav bhai, @Srikumar, @Emmanuel and @Frederic. You have all been very patient with me whilst imparting your knowledge and the learning process is still on going and will continue as we always learn something new from every situation in the desert. Even though, I have come across several pop out situations, this one was different as @Roshan Abrahams tire was not popping back in completely and that was something new.

But once, we were all sorted, we then proceeded to play on some technical dunes and this is when I realized that i was having a wee bit too much fun, as my son asked me to pull over since he was feeling a bit queasy. I had to request the convoy to stop for this and I would like thank every member of the convoy for coming towards us and checking up on us. All in all, yet another fun filled drive - great club, great people, great weather, I couldnt ask for more.

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