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COVID 19 Compliant - Morning Fewbie Plus Desert Drive - Shuwaib - Sharjah - 8 Jan 2021


Srikumar

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DRIVE PLAN

Shuwaib is famous for its tall dunes and massive bowls, so all drivers get ready to push your cars to the limit and ofcourse in a safe manner. The governing rules of offroading still remain the same 1) No fighting gravity or forcing your car over the dune and 2) Keep momentum as your friend.

We will start slowly and as we reach the bigger dunes the pace would be increased, while moving in the intended direction of Super Bowl and Iftar Bowl (depending on the traffic in that area). Few important points:

1. Keep your full sized shovels handy, as you would need them in the event of a refusal to start digging. 

2. If you have a refusal (depending on the situation), it might be better to get down and assess the situation before getting your self complete dug in.

3. As this is a Fewbie+ drive, we will be moving continuously through the dunes and not doing turns on climbs or bowls, unless there is a refusal. 

4. If you see the car in front struggling, either stop or exit but donot overtake

Convoy Numbering

1. Srikumar - XJ
2. Goutam - Wrangler (SL)
3. Probir - LC
4. Athula - JGC
5. Yasas - Cherokee
6. Vipin Shetty - JGC
7. Marjan - TJ (CF)
8. Ashok - Pajero

9. Anvar Sadath - Pajero
10. Muhammad Kashif - Wrangler
11. Willem - Wrangler
12. Anand - Xterra (Sweep)

We will be using Carnity Channel 2 (446.031.25). See you at the meeting point tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM

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TRIP REPORT

Early mornings in January can be quite chilly and with a strong wind blowing, it felt like the temperature was in the single digits. Everyone made it to the meeting point on time and with a quick briefing at the break of dawn we were off into the deserts of Shuwaib. This area is less traversed by other offroaders and hence we were greeted to a lot of clean dunes but with an extreme amount of vegetation.

With a good convoy of FB+, I was quite eager to push the level and give everyone a challenging drive. As we dodged our way through the forests of Shuwaib we had our first stuck of the morning where Probir's front bumper was dug in the sand. With some good team work, a bit of shoveling and tugging by Anand we were able to change the direction of the car and get him out of what initially seemed like a nasty stuck. As we reached more cleaner (less vegetation) dunes we started criss crossing, ridge riding, long hill climbs and everyone did exceptionally well. We of course had our fair share of refusals and that is to be expected in such a terrain. But all the refusals and stucks brought out the entire team with their shovels and helping hands.

As we were getting closer to Super bowl, the wind had picked up its pace and it was getting extremely dusty with poor visibility of the dunes and ridges upfront. Nevertheless the entire convoy pushed through and made it along to super bowl. Surprisingly, there was lesser than expected crowd at Super Bowl. Despite that, we decided that it would be better to spend less time at Super Bowl and more on the dunes to IFB.

Just as we were moving out of that area, we met a group of Kabayan offroaders who had a Pajero stuck in a pocket with a double popout. They reached out to us, asking if we had a jack and a board. While helping to fix their popouts, unfortunately @Anvar Sadath Bekal got caught in a pocket. Though he had room to maneuver his car the exit point was blocked by the Kabayan group's Pajero that had the double pop out. After fixing the first pop out, while we were helping fix the second tyre, another convoy started driving close to where we were standing and one of their Newbie drivers had a refusal close to Anvar's car. Despite our clear instructions to not move from that position, he messed up the entire area and slid to a feet from Anvar's car. Probably his ego got the better of him, but he created a situation that became quite difficult to move either car without banging into the other.

After fixing the Kabayan group's second tyre, we attended to this 2 car stuck situation by trying to change the angle of Anvar's car with slow tugs. Though we made some progress it was a tedious task with a lot of soft sand around. Around the same time this other group managed to get a car with a winch which helped accelerate the recovery process. The fact that both the cars left from the spot with no scratch is credit to our entire team who despite some heavy sand blowing, stood there and helped maneuver each car inch by inch. All participants brought the team spirit of Carnity which was fantastic to witness. It was also a good gesture from the Kabayan offroaders to stay back till we all left from that place. 

Few important lessons from the drive for everyone :

1. If you see a car that is not moving, never get too close to it especially on a side slope. There is a high possibility that you would slide into the stationary car. Its better to exit out if the cars in front are struggling or stuck. 

2. Never ever bring ego into offroading, as that will only worsen the situation. Always keep calm and try to resolve the problem at hand.

Big shout out to all the drivers and their passengers for assisting and participating in some very difficult situations. When the going got tough, the tough get going and this was amply demonstrated by everyone who participated yesterday.

Special mention of thanks to @Jeepie for supporting the drive and helping out all the drivers during their refusals and stucks. Also, congratulation to @Anand Nataraj who helped in the recoveries. Look forward to seeing you guys next time on the sand. 

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Yesterday's morning was a cold one, with 14 degrees outside, all drivers assembled at the meeting point time, full of energy and passion. Being a Fewbie + drive, it was fast paced and involved a lot of technical dunes, which all the drivers managed to conquer without breaking a sweat. We also did a couple of hill climbs which made our engine roars to be heard from miles away. Through the drive we stopped and helped 2 different convoys who faced pop outs, and of course we had to deal with a Newbie (who thought that having a powerful car would make him an expert) who dragged us all into a tricky situation. But through team work, we managed to pull ourselves out of it.

@Srikumar Thanks for leading a great, thrilling drive and for the tyre pressure tip, that was magical.

@Jeepie @Anand Nataraj You guys did a great job in keeping the convoy moving and helping other drivers out of trouble. Well Done.

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Thank you @Srikumarfor an awesome drive through tall dues, terrain and tracks were bit challenging especially when you drive at tail end.

it’s always good to learn from you that how to behave and helps to needy in desert.

Bit unfortunate that nasty “block” happened due to “impatient” driver.

Thank you @Jeepie @Anand Nataraj and entire team for your kind support.

see you soon 

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Such a windy and chilly day and I felt like very bit of it in my open Jeep. First time I had a thought that that roof would’ve been a good idea as my car was drenched with sand, but it got throughly cleaned today. Looking forward to many more drives in this area.
 

It was quite a technical sector and I had a lot of fun and it was a great learning experience. A big shout out to @Srikumar, @Jeepie and @Anand Nataraj for guiding the convoy.

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don't drive like its your last one.

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