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COVID 19 Compliant - Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Faya - Sharjah - 19 Jun 2020


Wrangeld

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On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 2:59 PM, asifk said:

There were definitely a lot of teachable moments and the efforts of the trip leads @Wrangeld@Jeepie, @Frederic, @Vanessa8580, and @Ale Vallecchi were really commendable especially given the heat today. It was a great drive overall, despite the stucks. The one small negative thing I will say that being stopped for a while allowed me to notice how much trash people leave in the desert - empty bottles, cigarettes, even car parts. People who venture to the desert and enjoy the outdoors should be even more protective of it, but unfortunately we see the rubbish people leave behind, as evidence to the contrary. As a responsible car club, lets all of us try and do our part to keep the desert clean - and leave no trash behind ! 

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Well said @asifk. One day we'll organize a "Rubbish Run" to collect trash from the desert.

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On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 2:59 PM, asifk said:

There were definitely a lot of teachable moments and the efforts of the trip leads @Wrangeld@Jeepie, @Frederic, @Vanessa8580, and @Ale Vallecchi were really commendable especially given the heat today. It was a great drive overall, despite the stucks. The one small negative thing I will say that being stopped for a while allowed me to notice how much trash people leave in the desert - empty bottles, cigarettes, even car parts. People who venture to the desert and enjoy the outdoors should be even more protective of it, but unfortunately we see the rubbish people leave behind, as evidence to the contrary. As a responsible car club, lets all of us try and do our part to keep the desert clean - and leave no trash behind ! 

133EF78F-09E6-425C-AB6A-39B22B2352E8.jpeg

C3FF707F-70C8-4D48-9642-A92391AF8690.jpeg

Well said @asifk. We'll soon organize a "Trash Collecting Drive" to rid the desert of some of the rubbish that unfortunately fills it, in places (fortunately, mostly in the proximity of "play areas").

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@Jeepie and @Wrangeld Great job as fisrt time Leaders!! 
You faced a very challanging environment (a lot of bushes, combined with increasingly  hot and shifty sand patches) and yet navigated admirably well and with  a decisive and sure pace. What's more important, when faced with a very tricky recovery, you guided a multiple effort with calm and inner coolness (while boiling on the outside😅) leading all to safety. As much a great feat for a first lead as any other, in my opinion.

@Gaurav has mentored you well, especially in mastering recoveries. And @Fredericand @Vanessa8580 did a great job taking part in the gruesome effort, under the scorching sun. I am sure they spent the afternoon immersed in the pool!! 

As for the group, all rose to the challange, without major problems (pop out and some refusals happen, especially in these conditions). The Big Stuck was unavoidable, considering the tight technical dune area and especially the heat. 


See you next week on some patch of sand.

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On 6/19/2020 at 2:03 PM, Wrangeld said:

The One with lots of Stucks

I am writing this covered head to toe in sand. As @Jeepie will tell you, I hate sand, but nonetheless, there's a big grin on my face after what has been, to say the least, a challenging morning for everyone (with a few honourable exceptions). 

And it all started so well. Everyone on time, almost everyone at the right start point and everyone with a compressor. A rolling brief so we could get moving quickly and a brilliant lead by @Jeepie designed to wake everyone out of their slumber. 

Perhaps we should have noted the early problems and a very early pop out from @Lorenzo Candelpergher (glad to have made your son's day) and understood this was not going to be an easy day. 

The sand is deceiving and today it was truly summer soft. Which meant our journey to fossil rock took longer than planned. @Foxtrot Oscar did an amazing job in second lead throughout and in this early stage was up with the pace and any challenge. Despite looking for more accessible routes, there were more and more refusals and Stucks.... but nothing that could not be handled.

@Nizam Deen gets a big thank you from @Vanessa8580 for being her first tow off a crest. The ropes would be busy today, but we did not realise quite how much. @Ale Vallecchi and @Frederic were busy at the back of the convoy. Not surprising because the sand was getting churned. @asifk in the Pajero and @J J  and @Nacho handled this admirably in their jeeps. It seems the Toyotas and Mitsubishi teams found the goimg a little tougher @Rizwanm2 @Jolly Abraham had a few moments. @Jorge Stepniak Felippe with the LR4 even found the going challenging.

Eventually we made it to the dirt track with the choice of ascending Fossil Rock or not. We decided against it because we hoped to make it to Faya. 

It was not to be. Technical dunes, which are not the easiest to navigate, but an essential  part of the development of driving skills proved to be filled with soft sand and an as we went cross country toward Faya and the refusals and stucks increased. Even trying to navigate through existing routes and keeping away bigger dunes, the delays continued. 

And then, the big stuck. Or as we like to think of it, the learning moment as @Nizam Deen got bogged down in a sticky bowl, and adding insult to injury with a pop out. The unpredictability of this hobby showed its fangs as @Frederic managed to get the recovery vehicle stuck as well, leaving us with a lengthy and difficult double recovery to manage. 

A massive thanks to everyone who waited patiently while we handled these recoveries. Both needed multiple tugs, and repair of a pop out. Once we got under way again it was already late so we headed for a track to exit. 

On the way we saw a lot of playable dunes, but given the time and the heat we did not want to risk more people getting stuck so we exited and inflated. 

So ... Faya will have to wait (again) or will be the first objective of the day. For the new Fewbies, I guess you know now why promotion does not come so quick. Be careful what you wish for. For everyone esle, thanks for the great discipline and the teamwork that was shown to get everyone out. 

Perhaps we did not cover as many kms as we wanted, but we learned a lot, and getting out of these tricky situations will help as you encounter more difficult terrain in the future. 

Thanks especially to the seniors on the trip @Frederic @Ale Vallecchi @Jeepie and @Vanessa8580 as it was a busy day and everyone did an amazing job. 

A quick reminder of one or two things. Fewbie and turning up without a shovel .... I will just leave that there. Shoes ... I challenge anyone still wearing flip flops or sandals to be useful in the sand when it's this hot.

See you soon in the sand. 

 

@Wrangeld you're right about the shoe issue. Even the Big Barefeet One (i.e. myself) has given in to the comfort and safety of desert shoes 😅 😉

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