COVID19 Compliant - ABSOLUTE NEWBIE Morning Desert Drive - Al Qudra- Dubai - 1 Aug 2020

[Frederic]

47 minutes ago, Ashok chaturvedi said:

Hi Frederic, 

Thanks for your message and glad to be part of the team for 1 August

I done some of the fun rallies GN and KT in the past plus some social visits to the desert with friends, cant say if I am good but can manage  through dunes through acceleration  with 4H and some diff lock ( not so great and need more practice to get out of the sand).

I have LWB Pajero 2005 model with the front and back duel hooks for the towing. 

Have watched the video and agree with Covid 19 discipline. 

in terms of gear I have the tow rope, Inflator and deflator with gauge, Motorola TLKR T61 W-T, Traction belt, shovel, some other gadgets e.g. tool kit etc. 

I shall be coming with my wife on Saturday. 

Looking ahead. My mobile number is 0506442921. 

 

Thanks for the nice introduction @Ashok chaturvedi. Looking forward meeting you on Saturday !

Our Carnity Radio Frequencies are mostprobably the same as the Motorola TLKR T61. We wil be at Channel 1: 446.00625 Mhz which i think will be the same as your channel 1. Anyways we can test it on Saturday.

 

[Frederic]

RSVP IS NOW CLOSED

@Frederik Bisbjerg @Ashok chaturvedi @mathewjo @Ashy @SureshVNair @Arun Mathew @muzamil hussain @Andrei @Kailas @Ajiesh George Kannankara @Jinesh Thomas @Sajit Modiyil @Erwin van Helden @Wrangeld

I am glad to be welcoming all these brand new members (Absolute Newbies) to our Offroading Family. Some have been in the sand before, while others will be tipping in their toes for the very first time. 

Rest assured that both me (Frederic, Little Blue Pajero), and (Richard aka Wrangeld, Little Green TJ) will do our utmost best to make you feel comfortable and help you to learn to take the first steps in deflating, establishing radio communication, and going over the first dunes with full confidence. This drive might feel a bit boring (or relaxing) for some members with more experience, but it is mainly meant to gain confidence in taking you car offroad and getting used to the settings and how the sand behaves under the wheels.

YOUR BEST introduction and briefing is all bundled in our briefing video below, which has replaced our long verbal briefing we did PRE-COVID. Please take your time watching the video, and repeat watch if needed to get the full basics in 15mins. This will make the difference between struggling and making your way through the dunes easily:

For the members who have clicked "Totally Agree" on the COVID19 post, thank you. For the members who haven't done so yet, please get this sorted, as this is your formal agreement that you will comply with the COVID19 precautions we have put in place.

If you are unable to make it, please send us a message on the drive-topic. 

See you on Saturday morning ! 

 

[Ashok chaturvedi]

Dear Federic

I may have bought the wrong radio pair Motorola TLKR T61 Walkie Talkies since they dont have  the frequency tuning mode as been described on your web. It has 8 channels and 121 codes. 

wonder if I need to re buy the one prescribed.

[Frederic]

1 hour ago, Ashok chaturvedi said:

Dear Federic

I may have bought the wrong radio pair Motorola TLKR T61 Walkie Talkies since they dont have  the frequency tuning mode as been described on your web. It has 8 channels and 121 codes. 

wonder if I need to re buy the one prescribed.

Hi Ashok. Don’t buy one yet. Let’s try it first. It might work as the Motorola uses the same license free frequencies.

[Kailas]

On 7/30/2020 at 6:03 PM, Frederic said:

RSVP IS NOW CLOSED

@Frederik Bisbjerg @Ashok chaturvedi @mathewjo @Ashy @SureshVNair @Arun Mathew @muzamil hussain @Andrei @Kailas @Ajiesh George Kannankara @Jinesh Thomas @Sajit Modiyil @Erwin van Helden @Wrangeld

I am glad to be welcoming all these brand new members (Absolute Newbies) to our Offroading Family. Some have been in the sand before, while others will be tipping in their toes for the very first time. 

Rest assured that both me (Frederic, Little Blue Pajero), and (Richard aka Wrangeld, Little Green TJ) will do our utmost best to make you feel comfortable and help you to learn to take the first steps in deflating, establishing radio communication, and going over the first dunes with full confidence. This drive might feel a bit boring (or relaxing) for some members with more experience, but it is mainly meant to gain confidence in taking you car offroad and getting used to the settings and how the sand behaves under the wheels.

YOUR BEST introduction and briefing is all bundled in our briefing video below, which has replaced our long verbal briefing we did PRE-COVID. Please take your time watching the video, and repeat watch if needed to get the full basics in 15mins. This will make the difference between struggling and making your way through the dunes easily:

For the members who have clicked "Totally Agree" on the COVID19 post, thank you. For the members who haven't done so yet, please get this sorted, as this is your formal agreement that you will comply with the COVID19 precautions we have put in place.

If you are unable to make it, please send us a message on the drive-topic. 

See you on Saturday morning ! 

 

Hi @Frederic, 

I have not got a radio with me. Please let me know if this can be provided.

Thanks

[Frederic]

5 minutes ago, Kailas said:

Hi @Frederic, 

I have not got a radio with me. Please let me know if this can be provided.

Thanks

Hi @Kailas we will give you a spare radio for your first drive that you can use.

[Frederik Bisbjerg]

Good evening all. Am I right we’ll meet tomorrow at 5am?

[Gaurav]

7 minutes ago, Frederik Bisbjerg said:

Good evening all. Am I right we’ll meet tomorrow at 5am?

Yes this drive is scheduled for 5 AM tomo, try to be on time or little early (always better).

[Frederik Bisbjerg]

1 hour ago, Gaurav said:

Yes this drive is scheduled for 5 AM tomo, try to be on time or little early (always better).

Okay. I’m afraid that’s too early for me tomorrow so I’m afraid I have to pass on tomorrow’s driver. Sorry about informing so late but this time it’s too early

all the best 

f

 

[Frederic]

DRIVE REPORT

Another lovely day in the Al Qudra sands....

I was glad to see so many new faces, all ready to hit the sand and learn the essentials during this drive. Most arrived well before 05:00 so me and @Wrangeld could help them with deflating. We always try to leave as early as possible to have the maximum drive time in the sand, so please try to arrive before 5:00 so you have ample time to deflate and receive the convoy instructions or ask to help for the radio and other details.

@SureshVNair you either forgot to set your alarm, or went to the wrong meeting point, as we did not see you nor you informed us that you could not make it. Shame as this spot could have been taken by someone else.

@Ashok chaturvedi was my second lead and drove very well, steering the Pajero LWB perfectly on the right track, and keeping a watchful eye on @mathewjo behind him, who drove well but will need to overcome the fear of pushing the car a little bit more, and that initial fear of the other side when crossing a dune is totally normal and will take a few drives before that settles.

@Ashy with the JGC managed well, this is not the easiest car to learn and i suspect there is lots of electronics holding the car back.

@Arun Mathew with the Green Jeep Wrangler struggled a bit initially, but after lowering the tyre pressure a bit you improved a lot. I hope the overheating alarm did not came back.

@muzamil hussain @Andrei @Kailas it will take me a little while to distinguish the Jeep Wrangler colours from each other (who drove which Wrangler), so my apologies. You guys managed very well, and also have seen the use of deflating further down to have better flotation.

@Ajiesh George Kannankara that Patrol of yours was sliding through the dunes without much effort. Very well done !!

@Jinesh Thomas your FJ cruiser has all the bells and whistles and looks great, you drove very well !

@Sajit Modiyil The Nissan Xterra is a fantastic offroad vehicle. Get yourself familiarized in switching off the traction aids and getting the right tyre pressure. Overall you drove very good !

@Erwin van Helden, what can i say about Erwin, except for the fact we could not miss to see that black H2 monster, that you drove great through the dunes by the way !

At the end of the drive, nearby the exit track, @Wrangeld had the honour of pulling the Hummer of the dune with the little TJ, and did this amazingly well. Unfortunately the Hummer was feeling a bit stubborn after the recovery and did not want to start anymore. Erwin noticed that the lever was in P, but the dashboard was showing R. A quick look on Youtube told us that in that case the transmission shifting lever underneath the vehicle has come off. And luckily we were able to clip it back in place and resume the drive towards the exit.

I hope all you guys had a good drive and initiation to desert driving. There is lots more fun to follow on the next drives. My main recommendation to all you guys is to practice deflation, test the accuracy of your pressure gauges by comparing with the gas station pump, to make sure 15psi is really 15psi and not 19psi. (BIG difference). Unfortunately many gauges are not very accurate, and it does not hurt sometimes to bring a second (different brand, type) gauge to double check. IF you have offroad tyres, you can deflate further down to 10-12 psi and will feel the positive result of that immediately.

 

 

The sand was quite soft and lots of the tracks were quite churned up today, looks like many other clubs or drivers had their fill on the long weekend. 

Quite a few had a flag and radio already, thanks for that. To the other drivers, please arrange these for your next drive. As you have seen the flag is very useful to spot the vehicle going over the dune. 

My apologies i was not able to do the debriefing after the drive, as i instructed Richard to take the convoy out to the Hamari well while dealing with the Hummer issue. I hope you guys enjoyed and please type your feedback on this topic !

Welcome to the club guys and i hope to see you all back soon !