COVID19 Compliant - Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Highway to the Sun: Murqaab to Solar Park - Dubai - 16 Apr 2021

[Ale Vallecchi]

12 minutes ago, ARAGON said:

Thanks @Wrangeld, that gives me some confidence 🙂

Although i keep seeing the word "technical" in lot of posts here at Carnity (trying to read as much as posts, drive reports etc to gain more insights and to learn from others' experiences) , i was not exactly sure what it means, and i am still not ...

Looking forward to learn from the senior stalwarts joining us newbies

@ARAGON we call "technical dunes" a set of tight dunes (close to each other), with steps in between, or small pockets, which give little room to maneuver, and require very good control of the car. These are places where cars proceed at quite a slow pace, will need to reduce their speed almost to zero while negotiating a step, and apply short bursts of acceleration to climb out of pockets or over steps. Longer and/or heavier cars may have more problems negotiating these areas, due to their reduces maneuverability, while less powerful cars may struggle getting our of pockets or climbing soft slip faces. 

[Wrangeld]

24 minutes ago, ARAGON said:

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Although i keep seeing the word "technical" in lot of posts here at Carnity (trying to read as much as posts, drive reports etc to gain more insights and to learn from others' experiences) , i was not exactly sure what it means, and i am still not ...

@ARAGON technical is defined as smaller, tightly packed dunes with a likelihood of very soft sand in the small bowls that form underneath. In general these need much better control and finesse of your steering and accelerator control. Getting through technical dunes needs your focus to find or follow the line carefully and without deviation because a small error will result in a more difficult recovery because there is little room for ropes (for instance). 

[Ranjan Pattanaik]

46 minutes ago, ARAGON said:

Thank you @Ale Vallecchi for the drive description with convoy positioning.... and a shout of "hi" to all other fellow riders.

Looking forward to the drive as this is going to be my second ride after the absolute newbie ride last week with @Wrangeld

hope i can tackle the "technical" areas detailed by @Ale Vallecchi fingers crossed 🙂🤞🤞

 

1 hour ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Dear Desertanuts.

A few more info on tomorrow's drive.

We will be meeting next to one of Murqaab's mosques, very near the exit from the highway. As you reach the meeting point, you may start deflating (my suggestion, due to the increasing heat, is to go for 12 PSI), and tune into Carnity Channel #3 (446.056). There are a few gas stations on the way to Murqaab, after the turnoff from E311, where you may top up your tank.

The drive is essentially broken into 2 parts:. The first will be on Murqaab's tall yellow sand dunes, with plenty of space between the cordons, some long drops on either sides, and occasional patches of soft sand. We will roam this area to enjoy its high dunes, using our climbing skills, some straight crossing, but mostly looking for a gentle way around the cordons. We'll eventually reach a sabkha (broad, flat, hard. surface) which will lead us to The Highway. This is a sand track often beaten flat, and marked by metal poles, which crosses the more difficult technical area separating Murquaab from Margham and Lisaili.

Having driven on the Highway to the Sun, we'll enter the white sand dunes of Lisaili. These are somewhat lower, as individual dunes, yet may be sharper on the crests, more difficult to read (due to refraction of the sun light), and a little tighter between the cordons, which occasionally form strings of sand bowls that we'll have to navigate, with good pace and convoy discipline. Out aim is to reach as close as possible to Solar Park, before exiting.

The convoy order will be the following:

@Lakshmi Narasimhan in Second Lead

@Gregory at #3

@ARAGON as #4

@Ranjan Pattanaik will be #5

@Pmaraziti at #6

@Russ is going to be #7

@Mehmet Volga will anchor the convoy's center

@Warren Flay in the #9 place

@JeromeFJ as #10

@Roger K is going to wear #11

@WaYan at #12

@Chris Wing #13

@TT_Dubai will be #14, and 

@Shaaz Sha will Sweep the group to safety.

Bring all your skills, concentration, and explorer's spirit to the drive. We'll drive with the sun warming our back, to enjoy this first Friday of Ramadan. Have a great end of the week.

Thank You @Ale Vallecchi for the details description. Its good to get all the information prior to drive which you provided well. It will be fun to drive with long convoy and will get lot of guidance and information from every individual.  Its only few hrs to see you all.. 

[Ranjan Pattanaik]

57 minutes ago, ARAGON said:

Thank you @Ale Vallecchi for the drive description with convoy positioning.... and a shout of "hi" to all other fellow riders.

Looking forward to the drive as this is going to be my second ride after the absolute newbie ride last week with @Wrangeld

hope i can tackle the "technical" areas detailed by @Ale Vallecchi fingers crossed 🙂🤞🤞

@ARAGON no worries, this is what we learn from our mistakes. I have Ford explorer which having AWD without low gear/difflock, i hope you can get more confident by looking at myside😁... see you on drive..

[TT_Dubai]

Thank you @Ale Vallecchifor the detailed pre-trip report! I am in and got my car back yesterday from the workshop with a clean bill of health 🙂 Looking forward to the itinerary and to meet everyone again.  

[Thomas Varghese]

3 hours ago, ARAGON said:

Thanks @Wrangeld, that gives me some confidence 🙂

Although i keep seeing the word "technical" in lot of posts here at Carnity (trying to read as much as posts, drive reports etc to gain more insights and to learn from others' experiences) , i was not exactly sure what it means, and i am still not ...

Looking forward to learn from the senior stalwarts joining us newbies

😃 Same was with me too. I heard this technical dune word so many times I was wondering what are these people talking about. As it is all dune tackling demands so many technical aspects. You have to have proper momentum, proper approach angle, proper exit point all worked out even before you start climbing the dune. Now as Richard @Wrangeld & @Ale Vallecchi has defined them and is very clear even though I had almost figured out the meaning of that word from the many drives I have done. Yes negotiating a cluster of small dunes need your whole attention as much as climbing a very high dune as its very usual to get an inexperienced driver to get stuck in those tight pockets these small dunes pose. Climbing a high dune also is technical. If you don't have the proper momentum and steering control we will start to fight gravity resulting in the rear end of the car swaying in all directions which is called fish tailing. That is not good. The end result is you will have a roll over. In the desert sands you cannot have 1 moment of distraction which I found out painfully when my glove box popped open spilling out all the contents inside taking my attention away from the tracks ahead and losing momentum and steering control which ended in me losing tracks and I ended up at the wrong side of the dune. After the incident @Ale Vallecchireprimanded for losing my attention. @ARAGON please note whatever happens inside the car during these moments it shouldn't distract you from the drive. 

I love to be driving with all the marshals because each one gives you a different lesson. I was waitlisted for this drive but withdrew as I understood no one is going to drop out and I will get a chance. Will see you soon in the sands. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL.     

[Sunil Mathew]

3 hours ago, Ranjan Pattanaik said:

@ARAGON no worries, this is what we learn from our mistakes. I have Ford explorer which having AWD without low gear/difflock, i hope you can get more confident by looking at myside😁... see you on drive..

hi @Ranjan Pattanaik..my other car is a 2011 Ford explorer ...i can relate 🙂.. see you too 👍

[Sunil Mathew]

thank you @Wrangeld and @Ale Vallecchi for defining "technical dune" for me and probably many others like @Thomas Varghese, who i need to thank also for his guiding points..i can relate also to the "moment of distraction" and ending up on "wrong side of the dune ", which i also did when i experienced the  first 45 degree incline with my car, and i panicked during the Ab Newbie ride. Like Richard @Wrangeldsaid during the briefing, we need to get used to the feeling of having our cars inclined at 45 degree , which i took some time to get accustomed to

[Thomas Varghese]

1 minute ago, ARAGON said:

thank you @Wrangeld and @Ale Vallecchi for defining "technical dune" for me and probably many others like @Thomas Varghese, who i need to thank also for his guiding points..i can relate also to the "moment of distraction" and ending up on "wrong side of the dune ", which i also did when i experienced the  first 45 degree incline with my car, and i panicked during the Ab Newbie ride. Like Richard @Wrangeldsaid during the briefing, we need to get used to the feeling of having our cars inclined at 45 degree , which i took some time to get accustomed to

@ARAGON you can be assured you are guided by one of the most experienced marshals of carnity during this drive. I liked the way you commented on panicking at 45 degree angle. Wait a little more and you will see all the angles your car can negotiate. I hope you have fixed the skid plates in the front, if not fix them as early as possible. The number of nose hits your car will take will not be pleasant for your car and eventually your wallet. Money & time doesn't matter as you are already bitten by the desert bug. How many meetings I have postponed or preponed or even cancelled to attend a drive God knows. Today being Thursday afternoon I already visited the garage to check the car under an OBD scanner for all fault codes if any, cleaned the air filter, checked the fluids and made sure my car is ready for tomorrow's drive even before I arrived at my office. All this because I have 2 drives this weekend. Please do this for your car too so that nobody is held up due to a mechanical fault during the drive. Its very important. Recovering a car from the middle of a desert is no easy task. 

[TT_Dubai]

4 hours ago, Ranjan Pattanaik said:

@ARAGON no worries, this is what we learn from our mistakes. I have Ford explorer which having AWD without low gear/difflock, i hope you can get more confident by looking at myside😁... see you on drive..

My very first car in the UAE was a Ford Explorer. Loved it. It was a 2007 but it did have 4LO and proper 4WD. Is that not the case with new Explorers now?