COVID 19 Compliant - Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Pink Rock - Sharjah - 24 Jul 2020

[Mehmet Volga]

@Gaurav I got out of this RSVP. I was in the wait list of another drive and just joined to that. Please exclude my name from the drive list...

[Rajeevan Vickneswaran]

Hi @Gaurav, apologies I will not be able to attend this week due to work commitments and will have to take my name out of the RSVP.

[Gaurav]

DRIVE RSVP IS CLOSED NOW

Here is the final convoy list

1. Gaurav                           C     Silver Pajero
2. Jun Zamora                    F     Green Wrangler
3. Kieran McKeown            N     Silver Renault Duster
4. Lisa Pemberton              N     Black Pajero
5. Veedooshee                   N     White Pajero
6. Sreejith Sreenivasan      N     Land Rover LR2
7. Islam Hassan                 AN   Black Dodge Ram
8. sertac                             I       Xterra
9. luwaimn                         F      White Prado
10. Sheri                                N      white pajero
11. Hennie Schoeman        AN    Jeep Wrangler 2017
12. Onlyjunaid
13. topgear                          N     FJ Cruiser
14. Nivin                               F     Blue Xterra

@Jun Zamora @Kieran McKeown @Lisa Pemberton @Veedooshee @Sreejith Sreenivasan @Islam Hassan @sertac @luwaimn @Hennie Schoeman @Onlyjunaid @topgear @Nivin @sheri

Please start 10 minutes earlier as per Google maps direction, as TAWI NIZWA U-Turn is closed due to roadworks, so you have to take u-turn just before badayer, that will cause 10 mins delay.

Please be on time, sharp at 5 AM, little early is always better.

Please tune to Carnity Channel 1 - 446.006'25 freq and deflate your tires to 15 PSI as soon as you reach to the meeting point.

Be inside your car - AT ALL TIMES - after the deflation.

[Gaurav]

@sheri welcome back.

Please read and comply with this full drive post as you have joined after a long gap.

[Veedooshee]

What a ride!!!😊

I had another amazing morning drive at the pink rock led by @Gaurav. It was a really enjoyable pace drive with its own challenges and am sure we have all learnt a lot today as well. Really well driven everyone! We made it to the top of Pink rock and back down through some more technical dunes and slightly faster pace very nicely.  As @Gaurav said on the radio, he was trying some difficult dunes to take the chance to see if we can manage. I am happy that the whole team managed beautifully today.

Thank you so much @Gaurav for this fantastic drive..great guidance..and help always..

Special thanks to @sertac for helping with the refusals as well as keeping an eye on the convoy.. 

Also thanks to @Nivin for being the sweep today and keeping the convoy together...

Kudos to the whole team, keep going...👍

 

[Gaurav]

Perfect drive with perfect set of 4x4 and off-roaders.

With cooler morning breeze, it was an amazing early morning drive to see the sunrise from dunes (will post pic, later). Everyone showed on time except one, It's just that I have a soft corner for duster to test its off-road capability, so allowed him to join bit late but others might not. Thanks everyone else for being on time, so that we can start and finish as plan to enjoy the best morning for which we all wait for the whole week.

Thanks @Jun Zamora for competent second lead and detour wherever required. @Kieran McKeown you and your duster are really rocking and continue learning the right basics so that you can enjoy off-roading always. @Lisa Pemberton you are doing great as always just learn to close the gap from the car in front of you, which tends to push you on wrong tracks (scary ones). I promise someday will do take you on those fewbie and Intermediate level tracks (sideys) too, once you are ready. @Veedooshee under the guidance on Anish learning and advancing very well that now she can no longer scare Anish, means you are surely ready for fewbie by next one more drive (I hope). @Sreejith Sreenivasan it was nice to see how you have tamed the LR2 and managing it perfectly fine without any struggle or refusal, keep it up. 

Thanks @sertac V.2.0 for brilliant support, patience and helping hand in managing the whole convoy with correct guidance and shoveling. We have driven after a long time and you have grown in this sport and maturity a lot. Well done.

@sheri joined after a long time and still manage to sail the boat with full load without any refusal and stuck. Good to see you back, please catch up with forum topics in your free time. @Hennie Schoeman at the back still scratching the wrangler real potential, though I haven't heard your name on the radio, so I assume it must be all good. @Onlyjunaid kicking the wrangler convoy intact at back also done wonderful, he finally gave a chance to Sertac for single tow-rope recovery but Sertac decided to shovel him out in few minutes. Next time Junaid, you need to learn how to get proper cresting  @topgear you really are a top gear, because you are grooming your son to be an off-roader from a such an early age and he reminded me of my son's age two years back (best innocent age). Enjoy your FJC, as they are made for off-roading and continue learning always.

Last but not least @Nivin joined us after a gap and last I think we drove was in Solar Park in Feb/Mar. Thanks for being responsible sweep and taking care of the whole convoy at all times.

Just because of such a wonderful off-roaders we reached Pink Rock by 7:00 and finished playing by 7:30. For next 1 hour I had a choice to head to Badayer, but I decided to play on big dunes just behind Pink Rock. This area is for fewbie, but being a cooler morning, virgin sand and great bunch of offroaders we all had a good spin in those creamy cheese cake (my analogy) dunes, where I can drive for hours and hours while making spagethi on my map app.

Thanks everyone for your patience, support, excellent drive and understanding the COVID precautions.

See you guys soon, drive safe.

[Hennie Schoeman]

@Gaurav & others involved. Really awesome experience again today. Thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to many more! Thanks a lot! 

[Lisa Pemberton]

Really enjoyed today, learning so much each time I drive about how the Pajero handles in sand. Got a double arm workout this week wrestling with the steering wheel on that side dune refusal and a nice face and carful of sand for leaving my driver's window open 🤦‍♀️. Thanks @Gaurav and @sertac for digging me out and explaining very clearly how I need to respond in these situations. Looking forward to the next one!

[topgear]

Great drive today. Thanks @Gaurav for showing us the way especially the area behind the Pink Rock. The flow was great and it was really enjoyable. Thanks @Nivinfor making some observations and sharing some driving tips. 

[Kieran McKeown]

Sorry again for my late arrival and a big thank you to @Gaurav for letting me join the formation in my little Duster. Another great day of learning on the dunes and the views of Pink Rock were truly stunning. I’m hooked! 
 

Quick question: Who should I contact to be added to the WhatsApp group for venue announcements? 

Edited July 24, 2020 by Kieran McKeown
Additional question