COVID19 Compliant - Morning Intermediate Desert Drive - Faqa to Bab Al Shams - Dubai - 26 Feb 2021

[Frederic]

DRIVE REPORT FRED's CONVOY

Two big Carnity Convoys taking over Faqa North and Solar Park area. What else can we say about this drive ?

- Everyone was excited to explore and up to the challenges we faced.

- Apart from some small refusals, some shoveling and a few tugs, we were saved from serious stucks or technical issues.

I was happy to see lots of guys in my convoy that i saw progressing through the ranks within our offroad club. It's amazing to see some of them gliding through the dunes with ease now !

In total, we covered 82kms, not just from doing sabkhas but we did our fair share of technical areas as well. 

And Oryx. so much Oryx we saw

I wanted to use the play areas nearby the exit point (Solar Park Long dunes) as well, but time was slowly running out and wanted on the right time. We will definitely put them on the program next time.

 

See you all soon back in the sand !

[GauravSoni]

Thanks for the amazing drive today  @Frederic Absolute pleasure! 
It was good learning for me towards the end when I got stuck on a “speed bump” of a dune. One can never be too careful !!

[MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ]

First of all, thanks to @Frederic and @Luca Palanca Falsini for accommodating such a massive convoy and making sure everyone gets to enjoy their weekend.

This drive was a bit longer (82 km) than usual (60km) and we drove mostly under the shade of the clouds with cool breezes flowing in through the windows.

Every one drove extremely well and we only had around 4 stucks through 4.5 hr hours of driving, hence we were moving for most part of the drive.

Thanks again @Frederic for leading such a fantastic drive, We enjoyed a lot and looking forward for more.

 

*Some pictures will be uploaded in the Gallery

[DANIEL NOGUEIRA]

@Frederic style drive,  very smooth, lots of technical dunes, good pace... one or other refusal, none was a big issue ..  but one little distraction and bahnnn, sand is eating you... shoveling it's always a good workout 🤣🤣🤣

See you guys in the sand

[Luca Palanca Falsini]

Today’s drive was for everyone a real challenge. 

The track proposed by Federic was 80 Km long!

The Drive

We started with a set of small dunes under the clouds just at the beginning of the drive, I was not aware about how beautiful  the next area was,  so I was surprised to see such tall, clean dunes. We dug into them and it was incredible! We spent almost 1h1/2 there when I realized that we were late on my drive plan so decided (not easy) to  move to the next area, 

We tried to avoid flats on the way to the Solar park. We had to deal with some small technical dunes but so far so good :). At that point it was late and, with an estimation around 40 minutes to get to Bab El Shams  when it was already 11:10, we decided to exit early to Solar Park.

We covered 78 Km with almost 25Km/h as average (moving) speed ! 

I want to Thank you all  for the enthusiasm and how everybody handled this amazing drive!

 

The convoy:

 

1. @Craig Finlayson: was an  AMAZING second lead, keeping the right distance and able to find an immediately alternative path when I was digging in a pocket or a nasty area. Thank you for your support! (ant for the three tugs )

2. @Anand Nataraj: you are completely into the intermediate level, you managed also very well the problem with your leak on the tire hope that you managed to find the issue.

3. @Islam Soliman: I meet you first time in Abu Dhabi. I found today an impressive improvement. Your Yukon is not an easy toy to handle. Well Done!

4. @Ahab Shamaa I love your enthusiasm, Your dive style is amazing and  I hope that you enjoyed the drive! Just one question... Why did you choose today to have your first Poput??

5. @Ashok chaturvedi : I hope that you enjoyed the drive with us, you are handling your FJ very well, See you on the sand soon then!

6. @Tariq Carrimjee: you follow our crazy drive with your full open Wrangler.. I bring one ton of sand at home.. Did you do the same?

7. @Francois Germishuys: I was looking at you (and Islam) everytime I coud. I know that handling a beast is not a joke especially in technical areas. You did perfectly, your style is amazing!

8. @marks: Sweeping today was not an easy task, thank you for your help. I was not feeling at all that I was bringing 8 other cars on that adventure. Was because of you and @Craig Finlayson! Hope to have the chance to drive with you soon then!

[Ahab Shamaa]

@Luca Palanca Falsini, your enthusiasm is contagious 😀 The drive was amazing! Crisp clean dunes that are considerably high to provide fantastic views 😍 Thank you for plotting the route for us and for your support and leadership.

Everyone drove so well too 😀 I guess it’s expected from fellow intermediates 💪🏻
 

This drive popped my cherry with my first ever tire pop-out 😂 A special thanks to @Luca Palanca Falsini, @Islam Soliman and @marks for taking charge of this mishap, and doing all the work to get it fixed while I stood by like an idiot 🤣 What goes around, comes around, and I believe your good deed will bring you back good Karma and positive vibes 😀

@Craig Finlayson, fantastic 2nd lead!  Nice reroutes and maneuvers (except when you got crested 😂).

@Anand Nataraj, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Francois Germishuys, @Tariq Carrimjee, thank you for a wonderful drive 😀 I look forward to driving with you guys again soon!

[Francois Germishuys]

@Luca Palanca Falsini thanks it was a good drive, few challenges here and there for the F150 but easily managed, got through everything with everything still attached to my truck so all good.

Not to many recoveries so the whole group did well except for  @Ahab Shamaa with his pop-out.... that was totally avoidable 🤣✌🏼