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COVID19 Compliant - Tuesday Afternoon Fewbie Desert Drive - Murquab - Dubai - 22 Jun 2021


Anish S

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Thanks to @Anish S and @Gaurav Soni for leading and supporting the drive, and our permanent 2L @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil :-). Not to forget the ever present @Veedooshee and her guidance for the recovery we had.

We had a short convoy of 7 cars, and we rode in radio silence for most of the drive, except for the occasional admiration of the scenery around by @Gaurav Soni and   some very minor refusals/re-attempts.

And then came the game changer towards the end of the drive with a stuck by @Anoop Nair, which took some time with couple of cycles of  shovelling and tugging.

For me it was an afternoon and evening well spent , away from work midweek 

1. I got to use my shovel for the first time 😀👍, and see  from close quarters, a how @Carnity leads handle recoveries, 

2. We got an unexpected 1.5 hrs of night drive as a bonus 👍👍

3. I was experimenting with the idea of "2500 rpm challenge/concept"  put forward by Richard @Wrangeld on one of the coming weekend drives in my own way keeping an eye on the tacho, which was a real eye opener for me. Come to think of it, i realized that all these days i was unnecessarily pushing the car through long side slopes and was unable to sustain/control the car for longer distances. As the route chosen by Anish was a blend of technical and longer sideys , i got to practise this aspect and got a feel of slower and controlled riding as well, instead of just dashing through dune sides and hurtling down uncontrollaby when exiting the side slope. More fine tuning required here, but i expect to get it right with practise.

At one point, while getting on the ridge and exiting , i lost my judgement due to the wind blowing on top of the crest making it difficult to see the shape of the crest and see the ridge exit point taken by the cars in front, This caused some fishtailing and slow down , which resulted in a refusal for @Ben84. Reminiscing the  chit chat sessions with Ben regarding the Terraflex shocks and lift kits he had installed. @Marwan Haddad was driving in front of me without any issues. 👍👍

Here is a video i created, tinkering with the iMovie in the Iphone, not something great but just a fun activity during some free time i got using some standard trailer templates. Excuse the quality and focus :-) ..planning to  install a dashcam later

 

 

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Such a fantastic evening yesterday,Thank you @Anish Sfor the selection of the terrain and leading all the way.. Your self recovery/ exit from the tricky soft patch made my jaws drop ,,,,,Extra spice was added with the bit of rain and sand storm. Drive was flawless at the start but was halted due to the tricky stuck and culprit being me 😬It was a moment of indecision caused the same. thank you all whom jumped out and did the leg work while I was inside the car with a convoluted spine 🙄. I owe you all you all a treat when Covid is over.. Thanks @Gaurav Sonias I made you do extra work, hope fully you don't have another drive to attend on the same day like the last time we were together 🤣. thank you @Marwan Haddad@Sunil Mathew@Ben84 for being there supporting.. I guess this is the Carnity spirit....Last but not least thanks @Alain Canivet-Abikhalilbeing cool and patient as a second lead. I am following you now second time in a row, and see you in 2 weeks buddy. Good day all.

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4 minutes ago, Anoop Nair said:

Such a fantastic evening yesterday,Thank you @Anish Sfor the selection of the terrain and leading all the way.. Your self recovery/ exit from the tricky soft patch made my jaws drop ,,,,,Extra spice was added with the bit of rain and sand storm. Drive was flawless at the start but was halted due to the tricky stuck and culprit being me 😬It was a moment of indecision caused the same. thank you all whom jumped out and did the leg work while I was inside the car with a convoluted spine 🙄. I owe you all you all a treat when Covid is over.. Thanks @Gaurav Sonias I made you do extra work, hope fully you don't have another drive to attend on the same day like the last time we were together 🤣. thank you @Marwan Haddad@Sunil Mathew@Ben84 for being there supporting.. I guess this is the Carnity spirit....Last but not least thanks @Alain Canivet-Abikhalilbeing cool and patient as a second lead. I am following you now second time in a row, and see you in 2 weeks buddy. Good day all.

I missed to thank @Veedoosheeinstructing with her cool head 

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21 minutes ago, Sunil Mathew said:

Thanks to @Anish S and @Gaurav Soni for leading and supporting the drive, and our permanent 2L @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil :-). Not to forget the ever present @Veedooshee and her guidance for the recovery we had.

We had a short convoy of 7 cars, and we rode in radio silence for most of the drive, except for the occasional admiration of the scenery around by @Gaurav Soni and   some very minor refusals/re-attempts.

And then came the game changer towards the end of the drive with a stuck by @Anoop Nair, which took some time with couple of cycles of  shovelling and tugging.

For me it was an afternoon and evening well spent , away from work midweek 

1. I got to use my shovel for the first time 😀👍, and see  from close quarters, a how @Carnity leads handle recoveries, 

2. We got an unexpected 1.5 hrs of night drive as a bonus 👍👍

3. I was experimenting with the idea of "2500 rpm challenge/concept"  put forward by Richard @Wrangeld on one of the coming weekend drives in my own way keeping an eye on the tacho, which was a real eye opener for me. Come to think of it, i realized that all these days i was unnecessarily pushing the car through long side slopes and was unable to sustain/control the car for longer distances. As the route chosen by Anish was a blend of technical and longer sideys , i got to practise this aspect and got a feel of slower and controlled riding as well, instead of just dashing through dune sides and hurtling down uncontrollaby when exiting the side slope. More fine tuning required here, but i expect to get it right with practise.

At one point, while getting on the ridge and exiting , i lost my judgement due to the wind blowing on top of the crest making it difficult to see the shape of the crest and see the ridge exit point taken by the cars in front, This caused some fishtailing and slow down , which resulted in a refusal for @Ben84. Reminiscing the  chit chat sessions with Ben regarding the Terraflex shocks and lift kits he had installed. @Marwan Haddad was driving in front of me without any issues. 👍👍

Here is a video i created, tinkering with the iMovie in the Iphone, not something great but just a fun activity during some free time i got using some standard trailer templates. Excuse the quality and focus :-) ..planning to  install a dashcam later

 

 

wow @Sunil Mathew its like a horror movie music :) ...i see a hidden there :) ..i got the chills 

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Gents, it was amazing indeed and that bit of technical drive in the dark was worth the stuck.
 

I just need to figure out why these big dunes keep on defeating me. I will try @Gaurav Soni advise to clean the air filter. 

Many thanks to @Anish S and @Gaurav Soni for tackling every challenge with confidence.

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17 minutes ago, Marwan Haddad said:

wow @Sunil Mathew its like a horror movie music :) ...i see a hidden there :) ..i got the chills 

Haha...all standard templates and music from iMovie...nothing deliberate 

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1 hour ago, Sunil Mathew said:

Thanks to @Anish S and @Gaurav Soni for leading and supporting the drive, and our permanent 2L @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil :-). Not to forget the ever present @Veedooshee and her guidance for the recovery we had.

We had a short convoy of 7 cars, and we rode in radio silence for most of the drive, except for the occasional admiration of the scenery around by @Gaurav Soni and   some very minor refusals/re-attempts.

And then came the game changer towards the end of the drive with a stuck by @Anoop Nair, which took some time with couple of cycles of  shovelling and tugging.

For me it was an afternoon and evening well spent , away from work midweek 

1. I got to use my shovel for the first time 😀👍, and see  from close quarters, a how @Carnity leads handle recoveries, 

2. We got an unexpected 1.5 hrs of night drive as a bonus 👍👍

3. I was experimenting with the idea of "2500 rpm challenge/concept"  put forward by Richard @Wrangeld on one of the coming weekend drives in my own way keeping an eye on the tacho, which was a real eye opener for me. Come to think of it, i realized that all these days i was unnecessarily pushing the car through long side slopes and was unable to sustain/control the car for longer distances. As the route chosen by Anish was a blend of technical and longer sideys , i got to practise this aspect and got a feel of slower and controlled riding as well, instead of just dashing through dune sides and hurtling down uncontrollaby when exiting the side slope. More fine tuning required here, but i expect to get it right with practise.

At one point, while getting on the ridge and exiting , i lost my judgement due to the wind blowing on top of the crest making it difficult to see the shape of the crest and see the ridge exit point taken by the cars in front, This caused some fishtailing and slow down , which resulted in a refusal for @Ben84. Reminiscing the  chit chat sessions with Ben regarding the Terraflex shocks and lift kits he had installed. @Marwan Haddad was driving in front of me without any issues. 👍👍

Here is a video i created, tinkering with the iMovie in the Iphone, not something great but just a fun activity during some free time i got using some standard trailer templates. Excuse the quality and focus :-) ..planning to  install a dashcam later

 

 

Nice video...uploaded the pictures in the gallery... Managed to capture some action 😉

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10 hours ago, Alain Canivet-Abikhalil said:

My first experience with @Carnity was for a masterclass. @Wrangeld was my instructor and after a few hours we were taken by surprise by a sandstorm. Richard asked me on the radio if I wanted to exit or continue - we continued. We drove 45 minutes in the sand clouds and this encounter with the desert made me respect it even more.

Today, while following @Anish S and when we came across the sandstorm, I had a throwback :) and this time it was a bliss. As usual, Anish you took us through challenging dunes, criss crossing and ridge riding at a surprising pace given the conditions but that the whole convoy kept up with. We almost never stopped... until one big refusal that had us all dig. That refusal was a very good case study on how to get out from a very tricky situation. 

Thank you again @Anish S, thank you @Gaurav for the support and advices, thank you @Anoop Nair @Marwan Haddad @Sunil Mathew @Ben84 and see you in 2 weeks :)

 

why 2 weeks ? taking a summer break ? lot of convoys  will miss you in 2L :-) 

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@Alain Canivet-Abikhalil @Ben84 @Anoop Nair @Marwan Haddad @Sunil Mathew @Gaurav Soni

 

Thank you @Sunil Mathew @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil @Anoop Nair for a very descriptive drive report and the video. Very well done guys, you covered most. The only thing that i will like to add is that there is no similar stuck, each  stuck is unique and is managed differently. Some recoveries need more time and hard work than others depending on situations and circumstances. 

Referring to the lengthy recovery we performed on Anoop's car which was stuck on super soft slip side of the dune where self recovery and shoveling did not work. And also it was not in an ideal position to give a regular tug that we normally do. Last week, i had a stuck of similar nature however within 15 minutes it was recovered just because we had the privilege of  having a winch that gives you more control over the recovery and can be carried out on more challenging surfaces.

In our drive, we had to do similar kind of recovery but using rope instead of winch. First, We had to find a flat surface to be able to give the required tugs which was little far so that was the reason we used 2 ropes to avoid the car giving the tug getting stuck together. Secondly, it was on an acute angle from the car giving the tug. Our objective was to correct the angle of the car firstly by giving numerous soft tugs prior giving a proper tug to get the car out. At the same time, in between each tugs we had to shovel out the sand causing resistance. As you witnessed, we had to do many cycles of soft tugs and shoveling which took almost 1 hour.

I am really grateful to all of you for taking turns for shoveling and showing such a great team spirit that is vital to this sports. 

The recovery was very well coordinated and executed patiently and calmly by both @Gaurav Soni and @Anoop Nair. Kudos to you guys.

Why a hard tug was not appropriate? (During the recovery,  i over heard few of you saying that why we are not giving a hard tug and just get the car out)

- Hard tug can cause damage to the tow points and can also break the tow points. If you break a tow point by giving hard tug, it will project like a bullet and it can cause further damage to the vehicle and serious injuries. Now let's say with all precaution taken there is no damage or injury, now imagine how would you recover a car without a tow point in that situation.

- The car was in an acute angle, giving a hard tug would easily cause the car to flip. I am sure none of us wants their car to flip and roll. Neither anyone would like to manage a flipped car instead of a recovery that may take long. 

- The car was trapped in super soft sand. I am sure all of you saw it as you all helped in shoveling and saw how the sand kept falling. Giving a hard tug to a car trapped in soft sand will cause the car to jump and again cause the car to flip due to the angle or else damage to tow point. 

Lastly, i would like to say that each stuck and refusal we encounter is an opportunity to learn and improve ourselves in different ways.

See you in the sand on another drive. Till then, take care.

Screenshot_20210625-232456_2.png.55766b9d0f9c29e8f93949681cf18eef.pngScreenshot_20210625-232502_2.png.6cc3428b756c5ed757d9097cba673136.png

Edited by Anish S
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