COVID 19 Compliant - Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Ghantoot - Little Sweihan - Dubai - 29 Jan 2021

[Thomas Varghese]

Honeymoon couples still going strong after 30 years of commitment. 

[Islam Soliman]

Very good start of the day in an interesting area.. always a blessing to have the sand completely for ourselves. Despite that there were around 4 convoys starting at the same point but we never saw each other once we ventured into the desert.

I was impressed with the whole convoy performance, everyone drove well and managed the different challenges thrown by @Ale Vallecchi at the convoy very well with few refusals and stucks.

Was unfortunate that we had to exit earlier due @Ale Vallecchi‘s car insisting to stay in the lead and rejecting to come second after @Luca Palanca Falsini’s car.. don’t worry Luca and sure Ale will tame his car soon and to let the Fortuner take the lead

 

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi, @Luca Palanca Falsini, @Ahab Shamaa and everyone for a fantastic drive and hope to c u all on the sand soon.. stay safe!

 

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Islam Soliman

[Ale Vallecchi]

The Long Drive that could have been longer - Bab al Shams to Ganthoot and Middle Earth Report

To beat the iron until it's hot, fresh off the press here's the report of the Long, Long Drive that had to be cut short (if you can say that after 5:27 hours). 

After a timely departure, blessed by the sunrise in our faces, the long convoy entered the technical dunes after the pylon track, carving through them like a knife in hot butter. So much for my worries that the entry may be the toughest moment of the day: Fewbies behaved like higher rank members, and found themselves in the middle of the long range dunes in no time. However, in a strange twist of things, a couple of stucks materialized in what I reckoned would be relatively easy parcels to navigate. And it would be like this throughout the drive, with the convoy tackling unaffected the more complex bowls, long ridges and trickier tight dunes, while slowing down with refusals and stucks (not that many, to say the truth) on relatively easier terrain. Perhaps when the going got tough, the whole convoy raised the bar of concentration and skillful driving, while on apparently easier places (small steps, low ridges, even some flat spots) part of the convoy was caught by surprise. 

Nonetheless, we had a blessed drive, with a fantastic landscape of pristine cream colored dunes, the mesmerizing effect of an unexpectedly strong wind pulverizing the taller crests, magnificent rock formations (some looking like ruins of an old city), and the biggest heard of oryx I have ever seen in the UAE (or anywhere else for that matter).

Two of our goals for the day were achieved: reaching the outskirts of Ganthoot, and crossing over to the fence encircling the military shooting ground. When the third objective was about to materialize (Luca's debut as Leader, on our way through the "Middle Earth"), my car became jealous and decided to play the old trick of overheating to avoid passing the baton. Fortunately for the car (and unfortunately for Luca) a good rest and lots of fluids allowed the temperature to return to normal. Considering this happened in reach of the southern-most stretch of the Qudra bike track (an ideal exit point), and fearing the incident may happen again once ventured into the mysterious heart of the Middle Earth, we agreed to end the long drive. 

And long it was, covering 68.3 Km, in 5:27 hours, at a moving speed of 21 Km/h. 

My thanks go to all the members who drove with great passion and care: @Luca Palanca Falsini for his Second Lead and invaluable assistance with refusals (and directing traffic through the most challenging string of bowls); @Islam Soliman at Center Forward and @Ahab Shamaa in Sweep, for their abnegation, enthusiasm and omnipresence in dealing with recoveries; @Thomas Varghese and @Arda Yagcioglu for doctoring my car back to a healthy state (as well as for a great drive); @N@ved for babysitting me back to the gas station, in case of a second bout of fever (as well as for a great drive); @varunmehndiratta, @Aravind Padmaraju, @Niki Patel, @Denizzalbayrak, @Anand Nataraj, and @Jack Thomas for driving smoothly and responding brilliantly to all the different terrains. I have to say that everybody drove very safely, and that refusals and stucks happened because of the challenges posed by the terrain (even though at times unexpected), rather then due to miscalculations or misbehavior (namely fighting gravity). I believe these are the kind of drives where we all progress to be better drivers, and gain self-confidence (in ourselves and our cars).

WELL DONE. 

PS: I was forgetting. I will soon publish a drive which will allow us to complete this one, through Middle Earth, and drive on to Faqa. I wish you can all join, to finish what we started.

[Thomas Varghese]

1 hour ago, Islam Soliman said:

Very good start of the day in an interesting area.. always a blessing to have the sand completely for ourselves. Despite that there were around 4 convoys starting at the same point but we never saw each other once we ventured into the desert.

I was impressed with the whole convoy performance, everyone drove well and managed the different challenges thrown by @Ale Vallecchi at the convoy very well with few refusals and stucks.

Was unfortunate that we had to exit earlier due @Ale Vallecchi‘s car insisting to stay in the lead and rejecting to come second after @Luca Palanca Falsini’s car.. don’t worry Luca and sure Ale will tame his car soon and to let the Fortuner take the lead

 

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi, @Luca Palanca Falsini, @Ahab Shamaa and everyone for a fantastic drive and hope to c u all on the sand soon.. stay safe!

 

 

Hopefully @Ale Vallecchi's car didn't develop any major problems. Xterra's are rugged and tough but has to be handled with care. Better to get it to its hospital soon. Till now its running but cannot for long. 2007 to 2009 model Xterra's have a flaw in the radiator which makes the gearbox oil to mix with the engine coolant if the separator between them corrodes off. Both flow into the same radiator but is separated inside the radiator coils. Nissan had to recall many Xterra's of that time and replace the radiator with new model radiators. This inbuilt design fault has damaged countless Xterra's engine and the automatic gear box. One symptom @Ale Vallecchi discussed was the car was having a very good thirst for coolant and has to be topped up every week which corresponds to this intermixing of the gearbox oil and coolant. This can only happen if the coolant is going somewhere else rather than the intended path. The leak which developed in this car had a reddish color but had traces of oil in it. If a mechanic checks the gearbox oil level he can immediately detect the flaw as coolant will appear on the dipstick. As the car is running ok and gears are shifting properly I hope there is no major damage and it will be alright once the radiator is replaced, the coolant system is flushed and the gearbox also drained of its oil, cleaned thoroughly and new gear oil is poured. 

Looking forward to the full day drive promised by @Ale Vallecchi once the stallion is ready and ready to gallop off into the infinite horizon. I hope it will be next week as I really love the way he leads through the desert and didn't get enough of it.  

[Thomas Varghese]

14 minutes ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

The Long Drive that could have been longer - Bab al Shams to Ganthoot and Middle Earth Report

To beat the iron until it's hot, fresh off the press here's the report of the Long, Long Drive that had to be cut short (if you can say that after 5:27 hours). 

After a timely departure, blessed by the sunrise in our faces, the long convoy entered the technical dunes after the pylon track, carving through them like a knife in hot butter. So much for my worries that the entry may be the toughest moment of the day: Fewbies behaved like higher rank members, and found themselves in the middle of the long range dunes in no time. However, in a strange twist of things, a couple of stucks materialized in what I reckoned would be relatively easy parcels to navigate. And it would be like this throughout the drive, with the convoy tackling unaffected the more complex bowls, long ridges and trickier tight dunes, while slowing down with refusals and stucks (not that many, to say the truth) on relatively easier terrain. Perhaps when the going got tough, the whole convoy raised the bar of concentration and skillful driving, while on apparently easier places (small steps, low ridges, even some flat spots) part of the convoy was caught by surprise. 

Nonetheless, we had a blessed drive, with a fantastic landscape of pristine cream colored dunes, the mesmerizing effect of an unexpectedly strong wind pulverizing the taller crests, magnificent rock formations (some looking like ruins of an old city), and the biggest heard of oryx I have ever seen in the UAE (or anywhere else for that matter).

Two of our goals for the day were achieved: reaching the outskirts of Ganthoot, and crossing over to the fence encircling the military shooting ground. When the third objective was about to materialize (Luca's debut as Leader, on our way through the "Middle Earth"), my car became jealous and decided to play the old trick of overheating to avoid passing the baton. Fortunately for the car (and unfortunately for Luca) a good rest and lots of fluids allowed the temperature to return to normal. Considering this happened in reach of the southern-most stretch of the Qudra bike track (an ideal exit point), and fearing the incident may happen again once ventured into the mysterious heart of the Middle Earth, we agreed to end the long drive. 

And long it was, covering 68.3 Km, in 5:27 hours, at a moving speed of 21 Km/h. 

My thanks go to all the members who drove with great passion and care: @Luca Palanca Falsini for his Second Lead and invaluable assistance with refusals (and directing traffic through the most challenging string of bowls); @Islam Soliman at Center Forward and @Ahab Shamaa in Sweep, for their abnegation, enthusiasm and omnipresence in dealing with recoveries; @Thomas Varghese and @Arda Yagcioglu for doctoring my car back to a healthy state (as well as for a great drive); @N@ved for babysitting me back to the gas station, in case of a second bout of fever (as well as for a great drive); @varunmehndiratta, @Aravind Padmaraju, @Niki Patel, @Denizzalbayrak, @Anand Nataraj, and @Jack Thomas for driving smoothly and responding brilliantly to all the different terrains. I have to say that everybody drove very safely, and that refusals and stucks happened because of the challenges posed by the terrain (even though at times unexpected), rather then due to miscalculations or misbehavior (namely fighting gravity). I believe these are the kind of drives where we all progress to be better drivers, and gain self-confidence (in ourselves and our cars).

WELL DONE. 

PS: I was forgetting. I will soon publish a drive which will allow us to complete this one, through Middle Earth, and drive on to Faqa. I wish you can all join, to finish what we started.

Today's drive surprise. Could shoot only one among the hundreds as they are camera shy and ran off by the time I got the camera out of its bag and the telephoto lens fixed. 

[Varun Mehndiratta]

Thanks Ale for the wonderful drive.... Though longer than usual, the regularly changing terrain n your leadership ensured that thrill n fun continued till the end. 

A drive with more Oryx tracks  than vehicle tracks...so simply couldn't have asked for a better morning.

Thanks Luca, Islam and Ahab for your support and to the whole convoy for making it fun. 

 

 

 

 

. 

[Arda Yagcioglu]

Thanks for the great drive and lead @Ale Vallecchi as always it was full of fun and nice challanges. Personally, didn't even realize time when so fast. Please let us know what was the issue once it's diagnosed.

Also special thanks to @Luca Palanca Falsini, @Islam Soliman and of course @Ahab Shamaa for attending all the matters quickly and patiently. 

Take care everyone in the convoy until we see each other in the next drive.

[Ale Vallecchi]

6 minutes ago, Arda Yagcioglu said:

Thanks for the great drive and lead @Ale Vallecchi as always it was full of fun and nice challanges. Personally, didn't even realize time when so fast. Please let us know what was the issue once it's diagnosed.

Also special thanks to @Luca Palanca Falsini, @Islam Soliman and of course @Ahab Shamaa for attending all the matters quickly and patiently. 

Take care everyone in the convoy until we see each other in the next drive.

@Arda Yagcioglu apparently nothing other than overheating. The computer didn't show anything. They replenished the cooling fluid. The car ran without issues to the gas station and back home👍 Thanks for asking. 

[Islam Soliman]

@Ale Vallecchi, I recommend you take it to the garage for inspection as the reddish fluid was dripping is not a normal thing.. better be checked 

[Ale Vallecchi]

15 minutes ago, Islam Soliman said:

@Ale Vallecchi, I recommend you take it to the garage for inspection as the reddish fluid was dripping is not a normal thing.. better be checked 

They did a check. There was no more dripping. It may have been overflow from the overheating. Will look into it. Thanks