COVID19 Compliant - Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - SkyDubai - Dubai - 21 Aug 2021

[Aisha S]

9 hours ago, munkybizness said:

As the events of this morning are still very fresh in my mind, it's easy to pen them down. Firstly, thank you @Anish S for taking over the convoy marshal duties in @Islam Soliman's absence. I hope your car is back on the sands back again soon! Anish, you were an amazing marshal today, and as @Hisham Masaadput it, in your exploratory duties you took on the most challenging parts yourself. I'm still in awe of what you accomplish with a 3.5l Pajero. It really highlights your immense skill as a driver. I have much to learn from you. My car glosses over many of my mistakes and experience gap and seeing you do what you do, inspires us to push ourselves further. Thank you for navigating us away from the most challenging terrain by taking it on yourself. In the process, you taught me how to do better recoveries.

@Naveen Raj, you were an excellent SL continuing the pace through the convoy with @S Jacob & @Aisha S. I particularly had my eye on your driving line because like you, I too drive a LWB so it was a much better prediction on how I should approach the ridges and sharp corners (wherever I had visibility).

@Aisha S, seeing your Wrangler float up dunes and take the sharpest corners with so much ease made me question why I have a LWB. You were a great driver to follow. And thank you for punctuating the drive wherever there were sharp dips. It saved my nose on many an occasion.

@Hisham Masaad & @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ - having you in the convoy just lent so much confidence to me. Knowing the experience & desert wisdom you both collectively carry, I was always safe in the knowledge that if I ever did get stuck, I had an amazing crew beside me. And finally @Looper, I think it's time to ditch why your name is what it is. Keep it as it is but you're no longer looping. Thank you for riding sweep and keeping the back end so tight. Between the three of you (with @Abdul Rafay-S at the helm), my rear view mirror was witness to  a collection of some glorious ridge riding and side sloping.

All in all, thank you for a fun and momentum-filled drive. I thoroughly enjoyed driving with all of you, and I look forward to seeing you all on the sand again soon. I (my brother leaning out) took my camera out for a spin and I think there is some excellent footage that I can't wait to start sifting through  

 

good observation skills. thank you for the nice comments! they sure boost my confidence 

7 hours ago, Looper said:

Margham area looks airy due to its low elevation dunes but in fact it is a very difficult terrain to drive on due to its uneven dunes sprinkled with vegetation. Also it has some very soft sand patches that appear unexpectedly. It demands a lot of concentration from the convoy and did we not have it? The long patches of radio silence is testament to fact how engrossed everyone was while driving.

Hats off to @Anish S to make the drive seem so easy, and facing all the refusals all by himself. Reminded me of this pic while driving:

With @Hisham Masaad at 6th position and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ driving with @Abdul Rafay-S at 7th position, I didn't have anything to do, rather than drive in tranquility, as they managed all the issues - though they were few. 

@munkybizness - Oh boy you have no idea. The benefit I had today driving as Sweep++(effectively both the cards in front of me were doing the same thing I was.) - I looped twice as i slipped off the ridge and did not have to disturb the momentum of the drive, quickly joining back at the back. 

The one refusal @S Jacob had - It seemed to me that you were not turning the wheels left/right enough, with a little more wiggle you could have perhaps self recovered. But may be you could not. Otherwise you drove very well through out and the displayed the power of SWB cars.

Otherwise everyone drove fantastically well. @Naveen Raj seemed to be observant of what @Anish S was doing. It was great to observe @Aisha S and @Abdul Rafay-S driving their Jeeps like seasoned professionals. @munkybizness looked like you enjoyed the drive as well. 

This is a map of our drive today recorded on Gaia GPS

"did you mean seasoned with sweat and sand?" yes

[Cha]

10 hours ago, munkybizness said:

@Aisha S, seeing your Wrangler float up dunes and take the sharpest corners with so much ease made me question why I have a LWB

 @munkybiznessI had similar thought, untill I had pleasure to witness what an extra Long WB 4x4 can do from Islam's Yukon!!!  

Especially when your car has a powerful heart.

 @Islam Soliman you need to make it up to him😈

 

PS: extra long WB I meant WB that is something near 3000mm. Yukon's WB is 3040 and LWB y61 is 2970.

Edited August 21, 2021 by Zixuan Huang - Charlie

[Islam Soliman]

20 minutes ago, Zixuan Huang - Charlie said:

 @munkybiznessI had similar thought, untill I had pleasure to witness what an extra Long WB 4x4 can do from Islam's Yukon!!!  

Especially when your car has a powerful heart.

 @Islam Soliman you need to make it up to him😈

 

PS: extra long WB I meant WB that is something near 3000mm. Yukon's WB is 3040 and LWB y61 is 2970.

With all pleasure 😀

[S Jacob]

Thanks @Anish S and @Hisham Masaad for another exciting drive today morning… Though I missed the high dunes and the play areas from our last week’s drive, this  terrain threw in different set of challenges with inconsistent soft n hard patches and the vegetation (got the opportunity to field test my new bash plate)… the drive was a different learning experience..

 

@munkybizness: Excellent drive writeup…

@Looper yes.. even i felt i shud hv steered it better and had better throttle control to avoid digging in, as I thought about it later.. anyways now hv a better hang of it, lesson learned for my next refusal opportunity….the SWB definitely offered the advantage of better pwr to weight ratio..

[Anish S]

Dear @Hisham Masaad @munkybizness @Aisha S @Abdul Rafay-S @Looper  @S Jacob @Naveen Raj,

It was a great pleasure to lead the drive with such a nice convoy where everyone performed very well given the challenges of the terrain and the pace. I was expecting and prepared for lots of refusal and stuck which actually did not happen and instead i got most of the refusal and stuck 😜. It was great to see the team spirit and i really like the fact that you were not shy at all  to get your shovel and offered to help.  I am very thankful to @Hisham Masaad, under his assistance and support all recoveries were done within minutes. It was reassuring having @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ in the drive and thank you for your help.

@Naveen Raj had the most challenging job as second lead on this drive which he did successfully by staying focussed all the time and taking necessary action whenever need. Well done and i am even more impressed knowing that your Pajero actually has a 3.0L engine.

@munkybizness and @Looper, other than being fantastic drivers and team players, thank you so much for making such a descriptive drive report and statistics covering the trip. I really appreciated it👏..

Looking forward to see you in another drive, take care.

 

[M.Seidam]

On 8/21/2021 at 12:40 PM, Looper said:

drive in tranquility

This is the one I am looking for be it day or night drive . It’s possible when you have a lead like @Anish S and a sweep looping when in need like @Looper 😄

[Hisham Masaad]

1 hour ago, Anish S said:

Dear @Hisham Masaad @munkybizness @Aisha S @Abdul Rafay-S @Looper  @S Jacob @Naveen Raj,

It was a great pleasure to lead the drive with such a nice convoy where everyone performed very well given the challenges of the terrain and the pace. I was expecting and prepared for lots of refusal and stuck which actually did not happen and instead i got most of the refusal and stuck 😜. It was great to see the team spirit and i really like the fact that you were not shy at all  to get your shovel and offered to help.  I am very thankful to @Hisham Masaad, under his assistance and support all recoveries were done within minutes. It was reassuring having @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ in the drive and thank you for your help.

@Naveen Raj had the most challenging job as second lead on this drive which he did successfully by staying focussed all the time and taking necessary action whenever need. Well done and i am even more impressed knowing that your Pajero actually has a 3.0L engine.

@munkybizness and @Looper, other than being fantastic drivers and team players, thank you so much for making such a descriptive drive report and statistics covering the trip. I really appreciated it👏..

Looking forward to see you in another drive, take care.

 

Receiving your report @Anish Snow, reminded me that I did not post any thing about the drive. And after all what said, I have nothing more to add, except thank you very much for the drive, and thank you @Naveen Raj @S Jacob @Aisha S @munkybizness @Abdul Rafay-S @Looper @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQfor joining and supporting. As I mentioned during exiting the drive, all has done a fantastic job, driving and supporting. Look forward to see you again in sand