COVID 19 compliant - Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Qudra Quadrangle - 28 Aug 2020

[Wrangeld]

Hi Ahmed

Noted. Thanks for the update. 

[Wrangeld]

Hi All, 

As we lost one driver because his vehicle is not ready, here is the new convoy numbering:

Morning Fewbie Drive Qudra Quadrangle 28 Aug 2020
Attendees	Level	Car	Radio	Pos #
Wrangeld	Expert	Jeep Wrangler	Y	1	Lead
Nivin	Fewbie	Nissan Xtrerra	Y	2	2nd lead
Islam Soliman	Fewbie	GMC Yukon	Y	3
Nabil Bishara	Fewbie	Jeep Wrangler	Y	4
H1fny	Fewbie	Jeep Wrangler	Y	5
Brette	Advance	Jeep Grand Cherokee	Y	6	CF
Tero Vallas	Fewbie	Toyota Landcruiser Prado	Y	7
Christian Andres	Fewbie	Toyota FJ Cruiser	Y	8
David Ortells	Fewbie	Toyota FJ Cruiser	Y	9
Heisem	Fewbie	Toyota FJ Cruiser	Y	10
Marks	Fewbie	Toyota FJ Cruiser	Y	11
Jeandre Bezuidendhout	Fewbie	Jeep Wrangler SWB	Y	12	SW

Wranglers will top and tail the drive - Hopefully Jeandre will not get lonely out there at the back behind those behemoth Toyotas!

[Tero Vallas]

@Wrangeld I am forced to cancel this Drive , please the place to the next in the list...

 

i am sorry About the last minute cancellation.

[Wrangeld]

Thanks for letting me know Tero.

[Nivin]

Wonderful Drive at Al Qudra. Thank you @Wrangeld @Jeepie @Brette.

Started recording a bit late  

 

Well Done Everyone! See you soon on Sand

 

[Wrangeld]

Fantastic Fewbie Fun

Leaving home in the middle of the night, when it is only just Friday morning requires a real commitment so it's always amazing to see the drivers arrive on time so we can get going quickly and enjoy the planned route. 

Leaving early meant that after our briefing, we did get a chance for a short time of dark running. It's a completely different experience to drive in the dark, and while the sun rises - evidenced by the first problem faced with three cars all stuck in the same pocket. @Jeandre Bezuidenhout found his own way out, @Heisem needed a little tug and @marks also managed to self recover and we were on the way again. 

Today's way took us through some of the longest stright dune ranges available in Dubai and were a great chance for some experimenting with slide sloping, climbing and control of the vehicle in soft sand. Everyone, from @Nivin to the sweep handled these dunes well - although, our poor sweep did need to fight his way through some really churned up sand at times as the FJ crew chewed up everything in front of them. 

Entering the technical dunes we saw that this type of challenge is still a worry for many drivers. Long sweepeing dunes are all well and good, but we cannot stay away from the technical always. Practice makes perfect, and we need to practice these more in future. 

Nor can we ignore that criss crossing is a difficult skill to master and it caught out many today. @Nivin had an absolutely perfect crest, @Islam Soliman had to be recovered, and from a distance it was clear to see that even the FJ crew of @David Ortells @marks @Christian Andras and @Heisem were not at their most comfortable approaching this type of challenge. But that's partly what the Fewbie drives are about. As Craig @h1fny said at the end of the drive (maybe not in these words), it's about the accumulated experience of drives and doing different things on them that makes each drive more fun.

As a new Fewbie, @Nabil Bishara you did a great job with the speed and the complexity of the drive. 

Somehow, even though we have quite some refusals and stucks (thanks again for digging me out so I could recover) we were not standing by for any of them for too long, and I am delighted that new proper shovel owners got the chance to use their new tool [you know wo you are!]. 

Covering more than 40km in total is a testament to the quality of the convoy and the willingness to make this a fun and exciting drive. We were even blessed with reasonable temperatures throughout. I also think that the extra 15km drive to get to this starting point is more than justified by the chance to get into such fantastic sweepeing dunes so quickly. 

The only downside, if that can be called a downside is that the white sand is difficult to read in the high sun and at the end of the drive anyone without sun glasses was finding it more challenging to see where we were headed. 

As ever, big, big thanks to @Jeepie and @Brette for amazing support on the stucks and throughout the drive. Excellent second lead by @Nivin and a flawless sweep by @Jeandre Bezuidenhout. We were all lucky to have such a great support team on the drive, dealing with every challenge, quickly, calmly and carefully. 

See you soon in the sand. 

[Nabil Bishara]

Thanks @wrangled and all. It was a bit daunting driving in the dark for the first time but a lot of fun - also loved the pace. Look forward to more drives !. 

[Craig Finlayson]

@Jeandre Bezuidenhout 👌🏼 

[Craig Finlayson]

@Wrangeld @Nivin

 

@Wrangeld’s lady doing all the hard work!  

[Craig Finlayson]

Driving in dark was good fun!