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COVID 19 Compliant - Afternoon Intermediate Desert Drive - Al Faqaa - Dubai - 22 Jan 2021


Emmanuel

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It was a wonderful drive @Emmanuel .. loved the scenery and serenity and the variety of the dunes formations .. let’s do more of these type of exploration drives.. thanks a lot everyone for a great drive and the excellent teaming .. @Ahab Shamaa hope you FJ is well and hope to c u soon on the sand

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4 hours ago, Emmanuel said:

Drive report

Yesterday's drive was a pure joy, the kind of joy you can only find in Al Faqaa, these days, as it is one of the very few areas in Dubai and Sharjah where you can expect to find a real desert, literally, without seeing anyone around. Only breathtaking views, amazing long range high dunes, gazels... 

Pure joy also because I had a very strong convoy, drivers with whom you know from the beginning that you won't need to ask yourself when you do a difficult crossing : Is everyone going to make it? Safely? Yes. Can I increase the pace a bit more? Safely? Yes. Can I consider crossing 5-10 km of continuous slip faces? With no pop out? Yes, no prob. Can I...? Answer is always, or let's say at 95%: yes. Well done everyone, @Ahab Shamaa, @Goutam, @Abu Muhammad, @Jorge Stepniak Felippe, @Mukundan Nair, @Tero Vallas. Of course we couldn't have had such a good drive without the support of @Islam Soliman (fantastic 2nd lead), @Pancho and @Kalahari.    

This time I introduced a small change in our convoy numbering system. Considering that all intermediates members need to be trained for recoveries, I decided not to put anyone at "Center Forward" position and to make each driver responsible of the car in front of him. The few recoveries we had to do yesterday have been done by regular intermediate drivers under Pancho's and/or Kalahari's supervision. I think that this system works well, but please @Kalahari and @Pancho do share your opinion.

Yesterday I also wanted to try a new entry point and explore a specific set of dunes at the beginning. Not a good idea: they were too soft and technical and I got myself crested while trying to crisscross my first ridge... Soon, we left this area behind and reached the first long range dunes where we were able to stretch our legs and follow the rest of the plan, which was to drive along the AD border and exit from the South of Little Sweihan, by the track to Solar Park.

The only unfortunate event we had occurred at the end of the drive, when @Ahab Shamaa got an engine light and sudden lack of power in his FJ, but thanks to an incredible team work, we could avoid what I was afraid of: having to tow the vehicle through on several kilometers by night. Cleaning the air filter (strangely covered with sand), disconnecting and reconnecting the battery worked. Engine light was still on but Ahab decided to go with it and drove with no issue till home. Ahab, fingers crossed for your FJ, we all hope it's nothing bad. Please keep us updated. 

Everyone, thank you. And hope to see you soon.  

 

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Yes, this was THE drive with action, good speed and fun !!! I Really enjoyed !

Thank you @Emmanuel for excellent and safe lead and also to our other leads, @Islam Soliman, @Pancho and @Kalahari pushing us  through. Great !!

See you again on sand !

 

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This has to be one of the best drives I’ve done with Carnity 😀

My first intermediate drive was nothing short of sensational!@Emmanuel, a big thank you for everything. I loved the area you took us to, and I loved the pace of the drive. Everyone drove exceptionally well, which lead us to more driving and less recovering 😜

My poor FJ was back to normal in the morning. No lights on, no nothing. I guess she was punishing me yesterday for not taking better care of her 🤣 Al Futtaim came and took her to see if there is anything that got damaged. Hopefully not, but we’ll see...
Thank you all for your support and camaraderie; you guys rock!

@Islam Soliman thanks for the escort home and for checking up on me brother 😀

I’m excited to do this again, with no mechanical issue of course, very soon!

 

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17 hours ago, Emmanuel said:

 This time I introduced a small change in our convoy numbering system. Considering that all intermediates members need to be trained for recoveries, I decided not to put anyone at "Center Forward" position and to make each driver responsible of the car in front of him. 

I agree with this approach @Emmanuel, for Intermediate drives.  It generally worked well and allowed people to get more experience.

Overall it was a great drive, providing many opportunities for the Intermediates to gain experience in keeping the momentum of the convoy and approach challenges with confidence.  You threw in a variety of different scenarios and I think all had a lot of fun! Maybe just one observation to the newer Intermediates:  Try to focus on your approach angle / line of approach, with steady and constant momentum, rather than 100% throttle to overcome every obstacle. That way the convoy will move at a steady pace, you will have a "healthy" car for longer, and you will enjoy a smoother drive.  See you all next time!

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I was having a few refusals that day, normally I do get over such dunes but perhaps because it was my first Intermediate drive as well and was a bit anxious.

I hope everything is going to be okay with your FJ  @Ahab Shamaa. Thanks for helping me recover that day bro!

Thanks a lot to @Emmanuel for the lead and taking us on such a fantastic drive. A big thanks to @Pancho for the guidance and @Kalahari to you as well.

A big thanks to @Abu Muhammad, I had you digging sand more than I would ever want to.

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don't drive like its your last one.

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