Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Pink Rock - Sharjah - 25 Sep 2021

[Wrangeld]

@Mohammed Mansoor Thanks for signing up for this drive, but it looks like you will complete your Absolute Newbie drive with Carnity in Friday - which is essential before you sign up for any other drive. 

Here is the link to that drive: 

 

I see you are signed up for this.

@Ale Vallecchi will confirm your attendance after the drive and then we can allow you to have your second drive of the weekend in this drive. I will add you back into this drive. 

[munkybizness]

Please waitlist me, as a second drive.

Do ignore this. I've secured a second drive.

Edited September 21, 2021 by munkybizness

[Wrangeld]

Good morning. 

Here is the meeting location for the Saturday drive: https://goo.gl/maps/Ym96fZ4afEZN7KPWA

The Convoy numbering is below. We will use Carnity radio channel 3. 

@darren thompson as it's your first drive of the weekend, you are added. 

Unfortunately, to keep the convoy a reasonable size, we cannot take the 2nd drivee on WL. 

See you in the sand on Saturday. 

[darren thompson]

Just now, Wrangeld said:

Good morning. 

Here is the meeting location for the Saturday drive: https://goo.gl/maps/Ym96fZ4afEZN7KPWA

The Convoy numbering is below. We will use Carnity radio channel 3. 

@darren thompson as it's your first drive of the weekend, you are added. 

Unfortunately, to keep the convoy a reasonable size, we cannot take the 2nd drivee on WL. 

See you in the sand on Saturday. 

Thanks @Wrangeld looking forward to seeing you and the rest of the convoy out in the sand

[Daniel Rodas]

Hi! I got a drive confirmed for Friday. Will drop from this one. Thanks!

[Wrangeld]

27 minutes ago, Daniel Rodas said:

Hi! I got a drive confirmed for Friday. Will drop from this one. Thanks!

Daniel, thanks for the update. Please remove your RSVP if you did not already do that. 

[Wrangeld]

Dear All, 

A revised convoy for Saturday morning.A few people changed around. 

See you @Lorenzo Candelpergher @Mohammed Mansoor @kiranshinde @eldose baby @GratefulKRD @Johannes Roux @Alex Raptor @Rsjiv Samuel @Joji varghese @hasan hamadeh @Alphin Aloor @Zixuan Huang - Charlie @Sunil Mathew @darren thompson

See you all at 6am. Nice surprise awaits tomorrow. 

I see I did not put the correct rank for @Alex Raptor and @Johannes Roux. You can berate me in the morning. Alex will be supporting. 

[Sunil Mathew]

Thanks for opening up slots @Wrangeld..see you tomorrow!!

[KKIRAN]

@Wrangeldgd mrng sorry i will not be able to join. I woke up now, but my gout pain is still there in toe. Dnt want to stretch it. Thnx.

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

My very first drive with @Carnity, on 20.03.2020, started from Tawi Nizwa Farms as we did today and ended in awe after climbing Pink Rock.

The memory of that first ascent to the Rock remains, as much as much as the rest of that drive, undeletable, in my mind and certainly made a substantial contribution to my passion for off-roading. 

Today, 18 months after, I had the privilege to come back to those very same dunes where I fell in love with the desert and lead for the first time a @Carnity Newbie convoy. 

By 6:28am the convoy was flagged and deflated, ready to move. @darren thompson called the convoy order over the radio and everyone fell diligently in position as we started heading North-East into the desert.

The first minutes are always a "warm up" time, during which everyone gets acquainted to the feeling of driving in the sand.. including the realization, for someone, that the car was still in 2H!

The sand was very wet and therefore clean, smooth and compact, very unusual but incredibly nice terrain conditions for a drive like today's. 

As we made our way into the desert we started venturing higher and higher along the sides of the dunes and riding the multiple fat ridges that the area had to offer. 

The convoy did amazingly well: whatever I would throw under their wheels, all drivers managed it without an eye blink.. 

We climbed tall dunes, we rode long ridges, we crossed straight up - straight down several sharp crests.. And yet, everytime, everyone made it through without issues. 

Yes, the terrain helped us a bit, but it is also true that with such a compact sand we were able to venture way beyond what a Newbie convoy would have done in normal sand conditions and, still, everyone did perfectly well. Awesome!! 

Our wandering took us North first, than South, then North again, offering progressively closer glances at the spectacular landscape around Pink Rock, which we eventually reached from the South-West Side, occasionally coasting by the long spine of rocks that emerged from the sand. 

After driving for the good part of two hours in almost virgin sand, approaching Pink Rock was as inspiring as shaking due to the immense number of tracks that were dug in soaked sand: we were driving in sand mud!! But, hey, it felt great to have conquered all of that:

Amazingly, we didn't record a single stuck nor a single refusal throughout the entire drive and we only stopped due to some passengers being a bit car-sick. "A bit" is probably quite an understating, especially for @GratefulKRD's passenger, who however showed admirable resilience and determination to complete the drive, despite multiple offers for an early exit on the tarmac. 

As we drove down from the crowded play area at Pink Rock, with convoys driving from and to all possible directions, we again started a nice stint across mid-sized dunes on the West Side of the rock, roaming around for a while before approaching the starting point of what was going to be the most exciting moment of the day: the climb to the top of Pink Rock. 

After a deserved break, spent contemplating the beauty of the rock and of the view in front, we eventually descended to the North and made our way out on the tarmac next to 2nd December Cafeteria. 

All drivers today are to be congratulated for an excellent drive:

@Mohammed Mansoor, on his 1st Newbie Drive just one day after his Absolute Newbie one, was excellent in his Y62, a car (and I say it out of my own experience) definitely not easy to drive in the sand, but one that will make him a great offroader. Nothing to worry if the bottom of the car hits the sand when crossing a crest.. It feels awkward in the beginning, but he'll get used to it. Very good attitude when he steered down on sideslopes where he was losing momentum.

@eldose babyled his Lexus brilliantly across a complete new terrain. As with Mohammed, a few times he lost momentum on sideslopes, but managed well avoiding to fight gravity. 

@GratefulKRD put his brand new Wrangler Rubicon to the test and certainly enjoyed how capable the car can be. He unfortunately also experimented how uncomfortable it can turn for passengers, especially in the back seats. But as far as the driving is concerned, today's experience was a good one: I think the biggest takeaway was that, when ridge riding, staying at the center of the ridge is key in order to avoid sliding down on either side, which then becomes difficult to recover. 

@Johannes Roux drove well today in his Prado. Some hesitation, on one's 3rd Newbie drive, is normal on steep climbs, especially when you don't have a chance to see what's coming on the other side. With time, dealing with the uncertainty of what's behind the dune will become normal. 

Given the extremely long convoy, I didn't have too many chances to see how the guys at the back were doing, however I couldn't miss @Rsjiv Samuel's red skid plate: I guess today's drive was quite a different one compared to the first 9 Newbie drives he's had before with @Carnity, but I'm sure he realised how much more a compact sand allows to achieve with his FJ Cruiser. Well driven today. 

@Joji varghese probably had the same experience as Rsjiv driving his Fortuner on an unusual terrain such as today' s one. Well done as well!

@hasan hamadeh learned the hard way how different the sand can be after the rain. I hope his front bumper / skid plate can be easily fixed. His statement, during the briefing, that he "never needed a shovel" with his Raptor was duly noted.. It will be up to the @Carnityleads to prove how essential this piece of gear is.. 😂😂. 

The Fewbie lot @Alphin Aloor@Zixuan Huang - Charlie, @Sunil Mathew had to deal with quite a lot of churned up sand at the back, but handled brilliantly. Kudos to all! 

Overall we drove 48.4km in 3h 8', of which 2h 30' spent moving and only 38' idle during breaks. We scored an average speed of 15.4km/h (19.4km/h while in movement), which was possible thanks to the compact sand throughout the drive. 

A massive thanks to @Alex Raptor and @darren thompson for their impeccable support in the few occasions when it was needed. 

And an even greater thank you to @Wrangeld, my off-roading mentor, who was with me 18 months ago on my first @Carnity drive, with me on my first independent lead and with me today for my latest promotion.