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COVID 19 Compliant - Evening Newbie Desert Drive - Pink Rock - Sharjah - 12 Jun 2020


Gaurav

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There’s always a nostalgic excitement for my starting a drive at Mahafiz, because this is where we started our Carnity career and lining up for the Newbie drive with @Gaurav reminded us just how apprehensive, excited and engaged we were the first time we rolled up for a Carnity drive.

Due to COVID things are a bit different. The briefing has moved on-line, we are not getting out of our vehicles and some of the best parts of a Carnity drive, like the convoy debrief and breaking bread together cannot take place.

With everyone on time, Gaurav briefed the absolute newbies in our convoy and after not too much delay we moved off. There was a ‘cooling’ breeze which made for a slightly less uncomfortable drive (if you are worried about overheating = driving a Jeep or Pajero!).

@E.C. TAN was appointed as second lead and @bunty_and_pops took over as sweep, leaving myself and @Jeepie as centre forwards for the day. Luckily, we had a few additional Fewbies in the convoy like @Jun Zamora @Mahmoud Hamzawy  which allowed us to focus on our three Absolute Newbies in the convoy @Nikola Bozovic, @George Francis and @Carlos Fernandez

@Gaurav had mentioned that our plan was to start with low intensity and build up depending on how things were going, and most of the newbies handled the challenges admirably. So much so that we made our way to an equally surprisingly empty Pink Rock in almost record speed. The combined effects of it being hotter than the sun, COVID and an afternoon (not sunset) drive meant that we more or less had the dunes to ourselves.

Yes, a couple of refusals needed to be sorted @George Francis learned that steering down to get out of trouble is a good method, @Mahmoud Hamzawy got back in the swing of things after a long period focused on COVID as well as a tiny bit of digging took place to displace sand as a couple of people had dug themselves into the increasingly soft sand. In general, the sand was still quite firm as we literally wound our way through the dunes.

With the benefit of experience, it was quite a revelation to vicariously experience once again what it’s like to venture out into the sand for the first time. Watching @Carlos Fernandez I could see there’s that tentative moment as you get over a crest and have to handle a steep descent, there’s the unusual feeling of slipping across the side of a dune, not sure if the car will slip down, there’s the contra intuitive steering down when you stop going up which @Nikola Bozovic learned is so you don’t fight gravity.

It was all on display yesterday.

After the initial dunes, climbing Pink Rock was the next obstacle to overcome. Everyone made it up first time and we reassembled the other side of the rock to make our way to play some more on some of the biggest dunes in the region.

For a Newbie, I am never sure if watching others having fun is exciting, frustrating or after a while just becomes tedious waiting in the heat. But we did not stay too long descending with the plan to reach 2nd December Café as our exit point. That was when it turned out that despite the clear statement in the drive introductions, @Luca Bregni did not have a compressor.

RTFM. If you’re going to spend 4 hours out in the desert, in blistering heat, make sure you come properly prepared. On one level no-one really complained, because it extended the drive and meant that we had to divert to Badayer to exit at a place where a gas station with a compressor would be open.  

Our Newbies ended up getting a bit of a Newbie + experience, but with @Gaurav's excellent lead we took a less challenging path through the dunes and this Newbie crew got to see the dunes from on high in the amazing cooling sunset light.

Once at Badayer, there was a moment to play, with @Mahmoud Hamzawy being given every chance to unleash the power of the Prado on another of the region’s big dunes, before we exited … with another slight divert … reinflated and made our smiling faced way home.

See you soon in the sand. 

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Another great report by @Wrangeld. Love it.

It was an amazing opportunity for me to be 2nd lead for the first time. I was really excited and pressured at the same time. @Gauravcould see me grinning like a Cheshire cat on his rearview mirror. 

Kudos to our 3 absolute newbies @Nikola Bozovic @George Francisand @Carlos Fernandez who tackled the dunes well. 

Thanks to @Luca Bregni ;-) (he, he) we had an additional drive to Badayer and check out the dunes there with a short night drive thrown in. 

 

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Thank you @Wrangeld for amazing informative report actually you and @Jeepie made a great job helping everyone and keeping all safe, you didn't spare an effort to come fast and support for any refusal / stuck, and in this hot weather you where ready with your Shevle to help me and others,

@Gaurav nothing is compared to driving in this area under the lead of Gaurav, you always ready to come back and reroute to help all newbies in their first desert drive - and as always carnity family never spare an effort to help people, once you found Landcrusier stuck by himself in the middle of the desert you announced on the radio and the full convoy stand on standby mode till you helped them to recover even by tow rope and pulling them out (power of Pajero)

@bunty_and_pops great job for swep making sure no one is left behind

Clumping dune that big was a great chance for me after two or three un succssesful attempts and thank you all for being patient - 

During sunset and night drive was amazing and very enjoying with the cooling breeze around us

 

After 3 month away because of this COVID driving back and hitting the dunes was maximum enjoyment for me 

Thank you all who for this drive and specially I would like to thank all drivers who stayed in their cars as we all returned back home safe and not even worried about this bad virus 

 

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