Morning Fewbie Plus Desert Drive - Bowling in Sweihan - Chapter II - Abu Dhabi - 18 Sep 2021

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

this RSVP is now closed.

Please find below the convoy order for our drive:

@Mus_hus78, @Hasan Wahlan, @Farouq Owdeh, @Rizwanm2, @Ruan van den Heever@Xavier Treasurer, @JeromeFJ, @M.Seidam, this drive is going to be thrilling and exciting, but also very demanding from a technical point of view, both mentally for the drivers and mechanically for the cars. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, especially when we will reach elevated positions on steep slopes, so make sure you come well rested and hydrated and that and you don’t have any reason for being distracted. Also, please consider carefully if you wish to bring passengers along with you.

We will be using Carnity Channel 4 (446.08125Mhz)

Our meeting point is confirmed: E16 Al Taf Road -https://goo.gl/maps/rwPsW39SNAKqi63U9 

See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 5:45am (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:30am.

[M.Seidam]

Hi Friends

My first time in Sweihan and second time in AD Drive . What a beautiful and amazing drive that was . Full of thrill and action . More than that the team spirit embraced by all of the drivers . Good driving and adherence to convoy and COVID discipline and precautions always. Couple refusals , two pop outs and two tugs along bowling as much as we could have to the content of our hearts . 
 

well done every one for this amazing day and It was pleasure driving with all of you 🙏👍

thank you @Mus_hus78 for being a perfect second lead 

@Rizwanm2 for anchoring our convey flawlessly. 
 

last but not least many thanks to our lead @Lorenzo Candelpergher for making our day so excited despite what ever came in the way . Regards to your little copilot , mine was asleep home 😄 

wish you great week ahead , till next time 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by M.Seidam

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

DRIVE REPORT 

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

Today's drive in Sweihan was for sure one of those I will remember for long time, as it was one of the most problematic drives I've ever had. 

It all started in a perfect way: a nice, fresh breeze welcomed us in the twilight before sunrise, at the meeting point. We acted a bit later than planned, anyway by 6am we were on the move. 

The start was nice and easy, a warm up in preparation of the big bowls to come. We made our way through the bushy dunes and, as we headed west, we found our way through the multiple fences partially buried in the area. 

When we reached the first bowl, the theme of the day was clear and exciting for all drivers. Certainly the first bowl wasn't the easiest one, but it was the perfect heads up for everyone to realize the beauty and the dangers of these mighty bowls, which deserve to be taken absolutely seriously, with full focus and without any compromise for safety at all times. 

If @JeromeFJ was not fully awake before this bowl, he was certainly afterwards, as his first attempt was as spectacular as scary for us watching his fishtailing on the way down.. A good lesson for the rest of the drivers and for Jerome himself, who then drove brilliantly for the whole drive. 

The first 2.5h of our "bowling expedition" went very well as we steadily proceeded west, making our way from one big bowl to the next one. 

@Xavier Treasurer was having some issues at the back with the poor traction of his H/T tires, which caused him several refusals, especially in the super soft and churned up sand that the guys at the back had of face. After moving to 3rd position in the convoy, Xavier did much better. 

The plan for the day was to hit 8 bowls heading west and, depending on the pace and the time, to hit some of them again on the way back. A great plan, in theory, which turned out in quite a different drive in practice.. 

Here's the overview (the green waipoints are the bowls I was targeting):

In the end we hit 7 out of 8 bowls, which isn't too bad, considering the total mayhem we had to go through due to my car's annoying troubles.

It all started with an innocent ABS malfunction error on my dashboard... Then came a TCS error, then an ESC error. Nothing to worry about, in theory, as all this stuff in the desert is useless and for sure it was some sand bothering some sensors.. But then, towards the end of the drive, it felt like I had forgotten how to drive the car.. Every climb was a struggle.. What the hell was going on?

It was then that @Mus_hus78, a brilliant 2nd lead today, noticed that while climbing my rear wheels were spinning but not the front ones.. Apparently my 4H was occasionally disengaging and leaving me with an endlessly fishtailing 2H drive! 

After some attempts turning off and on again the ignition, it was decided to disconnect the battery to see whether we could force a reset of the electronics of the car, but nothing changed, so we decided to continue a little more and see if things would get better or else to exit earlier. 

Despite the challenge of driving more often in 2H than 4H, our "Bowling plan" continued and in the end we certainly enjoyed a couple of really nice rounds:

Everyone did extremely well around these big bowls:

@Mus_hus78 proudly led his Pajero in and out every bowl in style, once again squeezing everything the car could give. 

@Farouq Owdeh looked like he was driving in his backyard as he new every bowl in details. Every bowl came nice and easy for him. 

@Ruan van den Heever and his passenger certainly had a good chance to enjoy the "naked" version of the JL, but I feel it may have been still a bit too hot towards the end. 

@Xavier Treasurer found his balance in 3rd position, with an excellent 2nd part of the drive.

@JeromeFJ was the fastest guy in the group today. Once he got acquainted with the size of the dunes, a novelty for him, he was always one of the highest reaching guys. 

@M.Seidam at the back was cool as a cucumber, enjoying the ride and always with a vigilant eye on the (few) refusals at the back. 

@Rizwanm2 was experimenting these giant bowls for the 1st time as well, I believe. I'm sure it was great fun. He tried to steal the stage with a stuck at the last bowl requiring a tug by @M.Seidam, but today the stage at the end of the drive was all mine.. 😭😭😭

Due to my intermittent 4H/2H traction (or plainly because of my own mistakes) in the last 20 mins I got stuck once (thanks @Mus_hus78 for tugging me out), had 3 or 4 refusals and eventually had a pop-out, which we struggled fixing at the bottom of the last bowl, after we had already decided to exit earlier due to my car and my son's conditions.

Right after the popout, however, I found out my car was not only in 2H, but also stuck in 2nd gear.. 😱😱😱. No shifting at all... Therefore not enough speed to build momentum around the bowl nor enough traction by downshifting to climb up straight and get out of it... 

In my attempts to climb up of the bowl without shifting gear I eventually collected the 2nd pop-out of the day. This was a nasty one, as the TPM sensor damaged the bead of the tire so much that it would leak air and the pop-out could not be fixed, which meant the spare wheel had to be put in place.. A great team effort made the fix much easier, while @Farouq Owdeh tried via OBD a software reset of the car's electronics, which gave me back at least the gear shifting, but not the 4H. It was enough anyway to circle around the bowl and find a reasonable criss-crossing point, allowing then a quick exit on the south side dirt track along the fence and then back to the tarmac on E16. 

A massive THANKS to everyone for the great help and the even greater patience during today's drive, in which we experimented all sorts of issues including, cherry on the pie, my son having the smart idea to have his breakfast in the midst of the drive, which his stomach didn't appreciate at all... 🤮🤮

Kudos to everyone for going through these mighty bowls safely, with great discipline and without any major problems. 

My special gratitude goes to @Rizwanm2 and @M.Seidam for their great support today, even though, I must say, everyone was helpful at all times, with the best @Carnity team spirit I could ever desire. 

Overall we drove 57.4km in 4h 16', of which 2h 23' moving time, at an average moving speed of 21.7km/h, for a total ascent of +1406/-1435m. See the details below:

Next drive in these bowls will be hopefully smoother. Despite the difficulties I personally had fun, I hope it was the same for you. 

See you soon in the sand again! 

[M.Seidam]

Superb drive report @Lorenzo Candelpergher made me relive the day once more and definitely it’s one of a drive to remember for a long time . Thanks again to you and to every one who participated today in this thrill 🙏

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

Some videos of today's 1st big bowl:

This is @Ruan van den Heever:

This is @Xavier Treasurer:

This is @M.Seidam:

This is @JeromeFJ:

What a great bowl it was! 

[JeromeFJ]

Dear @Lorenzo Candelpergher, amazing drive this morning, for sure one to remember. Discovering the magnitude of the bowls, the dimensions of the dunes, the depth of the descends and the unbelievable heights to climb was amazing.  Thank you for the lead, and the detailed report.
As you mentioned, I had my wake-up call in the first bowl, and then was fully awake to enjoy every piece of it ! What a thrill 😀😀 !

Thanks to everyone in the convoy, it was nice to see new faces and the mutual support and team spirit was excellent, along with the skills and determination required today.  Recoveries and problem solving are part of leaning. You had more than your part today, hopefully the drives will be smooth. Thank you @M.Seidam for the sweep, and the company at the back of the convoy, @Rizwanm2 for the support. Definitely waiting for the next Abu Dhabi drives !

[Varun Mehndiratta]

3 hours ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

DRIVE REPORT 

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

Today's drive in Sweihan was for sure one of those I will remember for long time, as it was one of the most problematic drives I've ever had. 

It all started in a perfect way: a nice, fresh breeze welcomed us in the twilight before sunrise, at the meeting point. We acted a bit later than planned, anyway by 6am we were on the move. 

The start was nice and easy, a warm up in preparation of the big bowls to come. We made our way through the bushy dunes and, as we headed west, we found our way through the multiple fences partially buried in the area. 

When we reached the first bowl, the theme of the day was clear and exciting for all drivers. Certainly the first bowl wasn't the easiest one, but it was the perfect heads up for everyone to realize the beauty and the dangers of these mighty bowls, which deserve to be taken absolutely seriously, with full focus and without any compromise for safety at all times. 

If @JeromeFJ was not fully awake before this bowl, he was certainly afterwards, as his first attempt was as spectacular as scary for us watching his fishtailing on the way down.. A good lesson for the rest of the drivers and for Jerome himself, who then drove brilliantly for the whole drive. 

The first 2.5h of our "bowling expedition" went very well as we steadily proceeded west, making our way from one big bowl to the next one. 

@Xavier Treasurer was having some issues at the back with the poor traction of his H/T tires, which caused him several refusals, especially in the super soft and churned up sand that the guys at the back had of face. After moving to 3rd position in the convoy, Xavier did much better. 

The plan for the day was to hit 8 bowls heading west and, depending on the pace and the time, to hit some of them again on the way back. A great plan, in theory, which turned out in quite a different drive in practice.. 

Here's the overview (the green waipoints are the bowls I was targeting):

In the end we hit 7 out of 8 bowls, which isn't too bad, considering the total mayhem we had to go through due to my car's annoying troubles.

It all started with an innocent ABS malfunction error on my dashboard... Then came a TCS error, then an ESC error. Nothing to worry about, in theory, as all this stuff in the desert is useless and for sure it was some sand bothering some sensors.. But then, towards the end of the drive, it felt like I had forgotten how to drive the car.. Every climb was a struggle.. What the hell was going on?

It was then that @Mus_hus78, a brilliant 2nd lead today, noticed that while climbing my rear wheels were spinning but not the front ones.. Apparently my 4H was occasionally disengaging and leaving me with an endlessly fishtailing 2H drive! 

After some attempts turning off and on again the ignition, it was decided to disconnect the battery to see whether we could force a reset of the electronics of the car, but nothing changed, so we decided to continue a little more and see if things would get better or else to exit earlier. 

Despite the challenge of driving more often in 2H than 4H, our "Bowling plan" continued and in the end we certainly enjoyed a couple of really nice rounds:

Everyone did extremely well around these big bowls:

@Mus_hus78 proudly led his Pajero in and out every bowl in style, once again squeezing everything the car could give. 

@Farouq Owdeh looked like he was driving in his backyard as he new every bowl in details. Every bowl came nice and easy for him. 

@Ruan van den Heever and his passenger certainly had a good chance to enjoy the "naked" version of the JL, but I feel it may have been still a bit too hot towards the end. 

@Xavier Treasurer found his balance in 3rd position, with an excellent 2nd part of the drive.

@JeromeFJ was the fastest guy in the group today. Once he got acquainted with the size of the dunes, a novelty for him, he was always one of the highest reaching guys. 

@M.Seidam at the back was cool as a cucumber, enjoying the ride and always with a vigilant eye on the (few) refusals at the back. 

@Rizwanm2 was experimenting these giant bowls for the 1st time as well, I believe. I'm sure it was great fun. He tried to steal the stage with a stuck at the last bowl requiring a tug by @M.Seidam, but today the stage at the end of the drive was all mine.. 😭😭😭

Due to my intermittent 4H/2H traction (or plainly because of my own mistakes) in the last 20 mins I got stuck once (thanks @Mus_hus78 for tugging me out), had 3 or 4 refusals and eventually had a pop-out, which we struggled fixing at the bottom of the last bowl, after we had already decided to exit earlier due to my car and my son's conditions.

Right after the popout, however, I found out my car was not only in 2H, but also stuck in 2nd gear.. 😱😱😱. No shifting at all... Therefore not enough speed to build momentum around the bowl nor enough traction by downshifting to climb up straight and get out of it... 

In my attempts to climb up of the bowl without shifting gear I eventually collected the 2nd pop-out of the day. This was a nasty one, as the TPM sensor damaged the bead of the tire so much that it would leak air and the pop-out could not be fixed, which meant the spare wheel had to be put in place.. A great team effort made the fix much easier, while @Farouq Owdeh tried via OBD a software reset of the car's electronics, which gave me back at least the gear shifting, but not the 4H. It was enough anyway to circle around the bowl and find a reasonable criss-crossing point, allowing then a quick exit on the south side dirt track along the fence and then back to the tarmac on E16. 

A massive THANKS to everyone for the great help and the even greater patience during today's drive, in which we experimented all sorts of issues including, cherry on the pie, my son having the smart idea to have his breakfast in the midst of the drive, which his stomach didn't appreciate at all... 🤮🤮

Kudos to everyone for going through these mighty bowls safely, with great discipline and without any major problems. 

My special gratitude goes to @Rizwanm2 and @M.Seidam for their great support today, even though, I must say, everyone was helpful at all times, with the best @Carnity team spirit I could ever desire. 

Overall we drove 57.4km in 4h 16', of which 2h 23' moving time, at an average moving speed of 21.7km/h, for a total ascent of +1406/-1435m. See the details below:

Next drive in these bowls will be hopefully smoother. Despite the difficulties I personally had fun, I hope it was the same for you. 

See you soon in the sand again! 

How do you put waypoints markers and all these trackings while on the fly?  Hope nothing major with car? All the best with that ..

Do share what had happened, we jeepers are looking forward to know what could go wrong - it's the Jeep thing..🙂

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

44 minutes ago, varunmehndiratta said:

How do you put waypoints markers and all these trackings while on the fly?  Hope nothing major with car? All the best with that ..

I don't do anything on the fly, except occasionally marking dangerous or remarkable spots by adding a waypoint in the current location and then editing it after the drive. In any case, while I drive I just drive: if I need to touch the screen for anything else than zooming in/out or recentering the map, I stop, do what I need to do and move again. I learned the hard way with my Patrol that when you are in movement you need to look at where you are going and keep your hands on the steering wheel with no exceptions. 

What you see in the snapshots are all waypoints that had been created before the drive to help my navigation, ie to have clear target points to aim at while driving. 

44 minutes ago, varunmehndiratta said:

Do share what had happened, we jeepers are looking forward to know what could go wrong - it's the Jeep thing..🙂

I just dropped the car at Jeep to have it checked and understand what REALLY happened. Right now, I don't know what happened.. I just know I had ABS, ESC and TCS warning lights on and no other error messages, but had, discontinously, only rear traction despite being in 4H Part-time (which is, despite the wording, a permanent 4x4 mode) and, at a certain point, the gearbox locked in 2nd gear, with no up/down-shifting possible. After a battery reset nothing changed, whereas after a forced reset via OBDII the warning lights disappeared and the shifting was again possible. I still felt I had no front traction as I struggled a lot to climb out of the last bowl, but nobody could visually confirm I was on 2H. I'll keep you posted about the feedback from Jeep. 

[M.Seidam]

Few sidys from today’ drive 

 

 

[M.Seidam]