COVID 19 Compliant - Fewbie Evening Desert Drive - Suwaydan to Faya - 28 Aug 2020

[Veedooshee]

The first showers got us into the muddy drive...

As you rightly mentioned @Frederic, it was really weird to find so many people around in that area, some with family whilst the rest are hitting the dunes like totally crazy to watch..

It was definitely a different terrain, could say a bit forgiving however for me initially i was still trying to understand how exactly to tackle them and how much momentum will be required or gas to give when needed. And that's when i got crested thinking that i had enough momentum as it seems harder sand that usual..but desert keeps teaching us..Thank to you @Mels Wolf for guiding me there and to Freddie for that quick tug..

Moving on, it was great to see how the FJ cruiser @Biju Abdul uses the diff lock to smoothly get out of a steep kind of stuck and then makes me think well which one, the blue Rubicon @Jeandre Bezuidenhout or FJ 🤣..

The Suwaydan part of the drive was absolutely fantastic with the great pace and enjoying the scenic route. And it had its own technicalities as Freddie mentioned "he didn't say easy😆". I have been driving mostly in the summer but i can feel winter might have its own challenges as well but with the cooler breeze..☺️

We then drove towards Faya where i actually bumped on my left tyre 😒 since it was dark and i was unable to judge the steepness on the left and i lost the inner cover part above the wheel. I did manage to go all the way uphill in one go 👍🤪 where we checked and i found out that the part was missing😔. The tyre was also starting to loose pressure and it got me anxious. Finally on the way down @Mels Wolf went to that same spot to find that part and i highly appreciate this kind gesture brother...desert will definitely miss you.. thank you.. and also for keeping a check on my tyres while i was driving really slow towards the deflation point..

All ends well, as after inflating tyre and reaching home, the tyre appears to be good..though some fixes to be done.

Thank you everyone for a great drive and special thanks to @Jeepie and @Febin Frederic.

Cheers to our carnity spirit 🥰

 

38 minutes ago, Christian Andras said:

Being too humble to mention it, @Frederic was the perfect leader, taking “one for the team” and sacrificing parts of his car in the process, to find the perfect route 😀

It seems however the motto of this bunch is “we leave no one behind, nor do we leave any (car)parts behind”😂😂😂

TOTALLY! Few drives where i was there and we lost parts we found them actually ! 👍

 

[Biju Abdul]

1 hour ago, Frederic said:

DRIVE REPORT

On my way to Second December Cafeteria I came across hundreds of cars that were parked next to the road, awaiting the predicted rain showers. As soon as the rains set in, it was funny to see all of them running outside their cars, splashing in the water and enjoying the rain. For me, coming from a country where it rains a lot more I must say it made me laugh quite hard while I was passing them by.

Upon arrival, where I found @Febin Frederic also had an itch to hit the sand early, we saw the cafeteria area already was a muddy pool, with locals arriving with buggy's and Landcruisers and Batrols hitting the sand and revving without deflating. 

We quickly set out by crossing the road and heading towards direction Faya. The Suwaydan area we went into is mostly left behind by other clubs because the terrain is more technical and quite bushy, with even a forest in the middle of it (we will come to that later). I have driven in that area before and although it is not the most exciting area, it does offer scenic views and for this drive I wanted to let the convoy digest some technical areas as it's important to learn them, and also the scenic views on this cloudy afternoon is something we should enjoy as this is super rare in UAE.

We had a strong convoy that day, and no-one really struggled, and even @Tero Vallas who was a little bit stuck in the mud at the back of the convoy managed to get himself out eventually by deflating a bit more and giving the mighty Prado a good kickin'  Well done !

We arrived at Sharjah Forest (don't laugh this is how I named that waypoint in my gps), and parked the cars next to each other and made some shots, which will be the perfect Insta and FB material I hope).

It was quickly getting more dark, even earlier as expected maybe due to the cloudy weather, so that meant we had pick up the pace and head over to Faya, where I was expecting to see hundreds of cars but fortunately the area was quite calm and all of us had our chance to climb from our so-called cheat route. Attacking from the front was simply impossible with all the muddy cross tracks, and I was sure we were all able to reach the top via that cheat route. 

As the dark set in, I was contemplating if we would play around in the Faya a little bit more, but it was getting quite dark and felt it was the right time to head out towards the exit as it had been a lovely day and sometimes my gut feeling tells me not to jinx it. We inflated at the dune buggy shops and I hope everyone appreciated the different type of drive this was today. We will just call it "Insta-Drive" from now

The whole convoy was super-cooperative, helpful, and all of you drove really well. @Veedooshee who lost a bit of the inside of her Pajero eventually found it back thanks to @Mels Wolf, and this event amongst others showed how much we try to look after each other, which is THE main reason why I gladly keep doing these drives. It is all about the community spirit, helping out each other, and having a good day in the sand. 

@Jun Zamora which I have not seen a while, has become a confident off-roader that easily digests whatever terrain is being thrown at him. Fantastic growth in a short time !

@Christian Andras as my second lead, and with the family safely strapped in (LOL), drove also very confident and did not break a sweat. Maybe it helped that we were driving in Tawi Swedan 😅

@Biju Abdul gave us the perfect excuse to have a difflock on board and used it on the PERFECT moment. Super !

@Edgar you drove really well today, and you went on Faya like you drove on Sheikh Zayed. Mighty impressive !

@David Ortells it was nice meeting your wife, and it will be great to see her joining the club too very soon !

@Yousef Alimadadi and friends, hope you had a good time !

@Jeepie as always the calm supportive sweep, a pleasure to have you in the convoy. Absolutely well done, and a big thanks also to @Febin Frederic for helping out with the recoveries.

See you guys soon in the sand !

 

 

Yes @Frederic it was a lovely drive “Insta-drive”

I really enjoyed the technical dunes track we did, “ car in low pace but our brain in fast pace “ 😀

The Diff lock recovery boosted my already High pride of owning a FJ 😎😁

Overall it was a great drive with our captain @Frederic and a lovely convoy.

 

[Yousef Alimadadi]

Thank you so much @Frederic, it was a lovely day and as usual we enjoyed a lot.😊😊

[Edgar]

@Frederic thanks a lot for the drive, gotta say I use all the tips you gave to the guys in front of me and apply them in order to climb 😅 but I’m very proud of the outcome 💪🏽 

looking forward for the next one! 
 

(im always amazed by sheikh Zayed views and that’s exactly how I felt on this drive so it’s the perfect reference 👌🏽)

Edited August 29, 2020 by Edgar

[Rahimdad]

@Veedooshee one turn deserves another. Pay forward. You found a number plate Sherlock Holmes on one drive. It was time @Mels Wolf found your missing part. The loss in pressure of tire could be due to the bump and not a pop-out but just the tire coming a bit off the rim. Usually normal inflation does the trick. But keep checking on that tire and get it shown to a tire shop if it looses pressure again. Taking the tire off the rim, giving it a good clean and putting it back on would normally solve the issue.

Also driving in the winters will be much more forgiving than the summer heat. Whatever you have learned is the hard way and I promise things will get easier as winters approach.