COVID 19 Compliant - Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Bab al Shams Loop - Dubai - 4 Sep 2020

[Lisa Pemberton]

@Ale Vallecchi I have everything except the recovery rope, I haven't used one before so I don't know what I'm looking for and I live in RAK so most of the recommendations on the forums are for Dubai locations. Will I be okay on this drive without one or should I cancel?

[Ale Vallecchi]

Hi @Lisa Pemberton. I always suggest to have the necessary recovery kit from the start (shovel, and recovery rope with soft shackles). I believe it's good habit to be prepared for whatever may happen in the desert, no matter the rank. That's why I always mention these items.We had also invited members to have their own equipment, to reduce the exchange of items during Covid times.

Nonetheless, the kinetic rope is not mandatory for Fewbie drives, as seniors will be able to assist and lend theirs. You can come without it for tomorrow's drive (and actually until you are promoted to the next level), but whenever you feel you may look into buying one. They are available at Speedex or ACE stores, at relatively affordable prices (around 350-400 dirhams). 

See you tomorrow. 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Ale Vallecchi

[Ale Vallecchi]

48 minutes ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Hi @Lisa Pemberton. Do not cancel. You are very welcome to join.

I always suggest to have the necessary recovery kit from the start (shovel, and recovery rope with soft shackles). I believe it's good habit to be prepared for whatever may happen in the desert, no matter the rank. That's why I always mention these items.We had also invited members to have their own equipment, to reduce the exchange of items during Covid times.

Nonetheless, the kinetic rope is not mandatory for Fewbie drives, as seniors will be able to assist and lend theirs. You can come without it for tomorrow's drive (and actually until you are promoted to the next level), but whenever you feel you may look into buying one. They are available at Speedex or ACE stores, at relatively affordable prices (around 350-400 dirhams). 

See you tomorrow. 

 

[Biju Abdul]

5 hours ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Dear Desertnauts

In preparation for tomorrow's drive, find below the convoy order

@Jolly Abraham will drive in Second Lead

@Islam Soliman will take #3

@Lisa Pemberton in at #4

@luwaimn will be in position #5

@Brette will Center Forward the convoy

@Yousef Alimadadi will follow at #7

@Mehmet Volga will occupy spot #8

@Heisem will drive at #9

@Biju Abdul will sweep the convoy

Be advised that the meeting and deflation point is along a dirt track, turning right on the Road from Bab al Shams, approximately 1 Km in. You may refill at Al Qudra Parking lot ADNOC's station, then take the road toward Bab al Shams. We will meet a little later than in past drives, at 5:30 AM SHARP: the goal is to deflate quickly, have a briefing and depart as swiftly as possible. Once on site, please tune into Carnity Channel 4 (446.081). 

Make sure all of you have a good shovel (not a "spoon"), recovery rope and soft shackles (metal ones are quite dangerous), a compressor (as we plan to exit e few Km from the nearest station), and most of all front and back tow points in good conditions. 

See you all tomorrow just before dawn. Have a nice Thursday evening.

Hi @Ale Vallecchi the recovery rope i have is not kinetic one and I don’t have soft shackles, thought of buying it from fewbie plus level. 
 

I am attaching the ones I currently have which is brand new and never had to open yet.😀. Hope it’s fine for the drive tomorrow and I hope to get the kinetic rope and soft shackles before the next drive. 

[Rahimdad]

@Lisa Pemberton if you need the Viking rope I have a few sets with me, let me know in advance so I can have one ready for you by next week.

 

[Ale Vallecchi]

18 minutes ago, Biju Abdul said:

Hi @Ale Vallecchi the recovery rope i have is not kinetic one and I don’t have soft shackles, thought of buying it from fewbie plus level. 
 

I am attaching the ones I currently have which is brand new and never had to open yet.😀. Hope it’s fine for the drive tomorrow and I hope to get the kinetic rope and soft shackles before the next drive. 

Hi @Biju Abdul. No worries. That's still OK. See you tomorrow. 

[Lisa Pemberton]

17 hours ago, Rahimdad said:

@Lisa Pemberton if you need the Viking rope I have a few sets with me, let me know in advance so I can have one ready for you by next week.

 

Thanks @Rahimdad if you have surplus and want to sell one then let me know!

[Islam Soliman]

Edited September 4, 2020 by Islam Soliman

[Islam Soliman]

2 minutes ago, Islam Soliman said:

 

Thanks a lot @Ale Vallecchi for the wonderful drive.. great experience and lots of learning.. it was a strange day starting with nice gazelle pack while entering and ending with the amazing oryx while existing .. centered with the poor little injured gazelle .. hope she is ok now..

 

the drive itself was interesting, the terrain looked ok (would say easy) but proved to be challenging than what it looks.. lots of stucks sagely recovered thanks to the iron man one and only @Brette😂 and then my curtain airbags going off for no known reason. it’s a day that I will for sure remember ..

 

enjoy the weekend everyone and see you soon on the sand..

 

P.S. @Ale Vallecchi pls let us know the updates of the gazelle !

 

 

[Ale Vallecchi]

EVENTFUL DAY IN QUDRA BASIN - Bab al Shams' Loop Report

Nice drive today in the so called "Bab al Shams" sector of the Qudra Basin. Punctual members, incremental levels of difficulty along the route, and a few adventurous moments. Actually, a couple of these unexpected situations have taken center stage, and have pushed in the background an overall impressive performance by all the drivers. To be specific, and give dues where dues are owed, @Jolly Abraham carried out an impeccable Second Lead, always correcting properly, and communicating smoothly. @Islam Soliman confirmed his skills at maneuvering such an extra-large car. @Lisa Pemberton delivered an impressive performance (extra kudos for making it all the way from RAK). @luwaimncontinued his progress, building up his confidence on the slopes (which will grow exponentially as soon as he'll understand his car's full potential). Likewise @Yousef Alimadadi progressed nicely throughout the day, overcoming some initial hesitance to show very good command and control. @Mehmet Volga and @Heisem handled their backward position, and the sometimes churned sand, without batting an eyelid. Finally @Biju Abdul swept the convoy with precision and flair (as he managed his FJ). Special mention for @Brette, who anchored the convoy and assisted on refusals and stucks, with patience and competence.

Now, back to the adventurous moments. In chronological order, the first was the encounter with a very young wounded gazelle. It appeared in front of my car as I was coming down a side slope, hiding in the shade of a small bush. The fact that it didn't move made me suspicious, and decided to take a break from the drive to check it out. Unfortunately, the little one had some wounds on its back (maybe from a vulture?). The convoy agreed to see if we could tend to the gazelle, which we did by providing it with some water, and by calling the Municipality (all animal rescue places were closed). Contrarily to our instinct, to take it out of the desert to Qudra Parkimg, we were told that we should not move it: the area is part of Al Marmoon Conservation Area, and the information we got was that nothing can be taken from it, under no circumstances. The Municipality informed us that someone will be sent to pick the gazelle up, so we left it under some shade, on a straw mat provided by Islam, extra water care of Yousef, and a flag, care of @Srikumar (who had come to aid us from his nearby Newbie convoy) to identify the bush where the little animal was resting. Fast forward to the end of the drive, the Municipality had contacted Heisem (who had called them in the first place) and informing us that they could not locate the gazelle, asked us if we could go back and take it out. After leaving the rest of the convoy at the exit point, we went back, with Jolly, Heisem and Brette, hell bent on our rescue mission (upping the drive from Fewbie to Intermediate 😅). Unfortunately, upon reaching the flag-marked bush we could not do anything else but confirm to the Municipality that very sadly the little gazelle had died from its wounds. Nonetheless we did our best, and learned a lesson in how the conservation area is managed, rightly so, by the laws of wild nature.

As for the second surprise of the day, it was certainly one that Islam would have done without. Fact is that most cars are programmed to be driven on flat surfaces, and their computers don't understand their driver's crave for off-roading. It so happened that, coming down from a small slope, just after crossing a low ridge, the big Yukon's electronic brain must have thought it was rolling to one side, and decided to save Islam by exploding its lateral air-bags. A stark, and unfortunate, reminder that all electronics should be switched off (or manually disabled) before going into the desert, so that a rather simple obstacle (Islam didn't seem to have any difficulty at all, navigating the ridge and the descent) doesn't transform itself in a dire problem. Wish Islam will be able to have his car back ASAP.

As for the drive itself, after a technical briefing on riding ridges and crossing dunes, and a couple of practices (one driver at the time), it was clear that the whole convoy was able to manage such skills. We progressed from the western part of Qudra (closest to Bab al Shams) in a northerly direction, through a couple of sabkhas, so that we could then travel southward, and back west, and cross the mostly compact, wind-swept side of the longer open dunes, which in this area also offer abundant possibilities of side sloping, as well as some "bowl" areas.

In the end, we traveled for 4 hours, including the stops for the briefing, the attempted rescue and the air-bags incident, for a total of 50 Km, at an average speed of 12 Kms/h (and moving average speed of 24 Kms/h).

2 hours ago, Islam Soliman said:

 

Splendid video @Islam Soliman. Well done! 

Edited September 4, 2020 by Ale Vallecchi