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COVID19 Compliant - Morning Newbie Drive - Al Khatim - Abu Dhabi - 16 Jul 2021


Wrangeld

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1 hour ago, Jeepie said:

pictures posted. Unfortunately I cannot post the video's

@Jeepie…I don’t see the photos. 

@Jeepie…never mind. I found them in the gallery .

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Post Drive Report

Having experienced the Sweihan dunes a few weeks ago, I was excited at seeing what another Abu Dhabi off roading terrain had to offer. Al Khatim is not an area where I had driven before and I thought that as this was a newbie (potentially Absolute Newbie) drive, the fact that I would need to use the drive as a partial recce/exploration drive was acceptable.

As it turned out there were no absolute newbies on the drive and as a result we were able to take the level up a notch. After I got to grips with the softeness of the sand we were lucky enough to enjoy virgin sands, swooping dunes and exciting climbs and descents to the content of our adrenilan glands.  

The start of the drive was puncutated by an area we needed to cross that was filled with multiple puncture risks. Old fence posts, barbed wire, discarded pipes and more rubbish than my heart could bear to see littered the vista, making navigation quite challenging - especially as we had started our drive in the dark and were crossing this dune complex through the morning dawn. 

As the sun came up we made our way across the tracks in the general direction of Sweihan and a veritable treasure of navigable dunes. other leads that have been in this area had told me that one of the greatest challenges of the drive is choosing between so many atttractive and interesting looking dunes. 

Dune structure is not something that leads talk about in their reposts because mostly, the shape and style of dunes is quite predicatable in the areas we drive. Al Khatim was full of little surprises (some less pleasant than others) with unexpected soft patches, hidden pockets, complex rises and descents and height. Ridge riding was kept to a minimum today because after all this was a Newbie drive,but there too were new challenges: sharp ridges which make driving on them a challenge because there is a metre of soft slick slip face where wheels really have no purchase. 

If you get the sense from this that the drive was challenging but fun, then I have done my job and hopefully enticed one or two of you to venture out to Abu Dhabi (most lilely after restrictions are lifted) to experience a different scale of dune to what we experience most of the time in Dubai and Sharjah.

We managed the drive almost without recoveries @Hasan Wahlan @Farouq Owdeh @Josh T. all had the chance to relax with the pace of the drive well within capabilities leaving @Jeepie with very little to do, excellent in support as ever. @Aravind Sidhardhan as the only true newbie on the drive, you handled everything very well. Sorry about the bumper - hope your garage can help you sort it out easily. 

Thanks to all of you, espeically @Farouq Owdeh for bringing us into some areas I would not have found without your excellent local knowledge. Please let us know when you and your friends are visiting Maleha again - I'd like to book a seat and bring my own popcorn!

 

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31 minutes ago, Wrangeld said:

Post Drive Report

Having experienced the Sweihan dunes a few weeks ago, I was excited at seeing what another Abu Dhabi off roading terrain had to offer. Al Khatim is not an area where I had driven before and I thought that as this was a newbie (potentially Absolute Newbie) drive, the fact that I would need to use the drive as a partial recce/exploration drive was acceptable.

As it turned out there were no absolute newbies on the drive and as a result we were able to take the level up a notch. After I got to grips with the softeness of the sand we were lucky enough to enjoy virgin sands, swooping dunes and exciting climbs and descents to the content of our adrenilan glands.  

The start of the drive was puncutated by an area we needed to cross that was filled with multiple puncture risks. Old fence posts, barbed wire, discarded pipes and more rubbish than my heart could bear to see littered the vista, making navigation quite challenging - especially as we had started our drive in the dark and were crossing this dune complex through the morning dawn. 

As the sun came up we made our way across the tracks in the general direction of Sweihan and a veritable treasure of navigable dunes. other leads that have been in this area had told me that one of the greatest challenges of the drive is choosing between so many atttractive and interesting looking dunes. 

Dune structure is not something that leads talk about in their reposts because mostly, the shape and style of dunes is quite predicatable in the areas we drive. Al Khatim was full of little surprises (some less pleasant than others) with unexpected soft patches, hidden pockets, complex rises and descents and height. Ridge riding was kept to a minimum today because after all this was a Newbie drive,but there too were new challenges: sharp ridges which make driving on them a challenge because there is a metre of soft slick slip face where wheels really have no purchase. 

If you get the sense from this that the drive was challenging but fun, then I have done my job and hopefully enticed one or two of you to venture out to Abu Dhabi (most lilely after restrictions are lifted) to experience a different scale of dune to what we experience most of the time in Dubai and Sharjah.

We managed the drive almost without recoveries @Hasan Wahlan @Farouq Owdeh @Josh T. all had the chance to relax with the pace of the drive well within capabilities leaving @Jeepie with very little to do, excellent in support as ever. @Aravind Sidhardhan as the only true newbie on the drive, you handled everything very well. Sorry about the bumper - hope your garage can help you sort it out easily. 

Thanks to all of you, espeically @Farouq Owdeh for bringing us into some areas I would not have found without your excellent local knowledge. Please let us know when you and your friends are visiting Maleha again - I'd like to book a seat and bring my own popcorn!

 

Thanks @Wrangeld and @Jeepie for an amazing experience and thank you @Farouq Owdeh @Josh T. and @Aravind Sidhardhan for being a part of this amazing convoy.

Be safe and hope to see you all soon.

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