Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Pac-Man Dunes (Nahel) - Abu Dhabi - 24 Sep 2021

[Santoso Marjuki]

That was amazing and challenging trips this morning, with wonderful teams Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. 

Appreciated and Thank so much on keep reminders me@Gaurav and @munkybizness, The Gravity must be my best friend to follow and enjoy with it😊. 

 

[Damien Ranjit]

2 hours ago, Gaurav said:

Thanks everyone for wonderful drive today, we were really blessed with a great convoy strength and cars to really had such an amazing drive with bare minimum interruptions or delays.

Apologies for not reaching, showing and highlighting the Pac-Man as that area is now being fenced with a dual layer of fencing. Internal (immediately next to pac-man, visible on sat maps) and external (not spotted on sat map, yet) that spans across 40-50 km. I believe its a new fence laid by Marmum dairy to protect the soil of crop/grass circle (animal feed) or plan to put more grass circles around. I hope people who have exited towards Sweihan side must have seen Marmum dairy on left hand side of Tarmac and just after that dairy there is two HUGE green patch of grass in circle shape is the Pac-Man area.

Anyways, plan B always work in such situations and why wouldn't when we are in AD, where dunes are so welcoming that any plan will seem good plan in those amazing, clean, tall dunes. Everyone kept a good pace and rhythm to cover almost 50 kms in 3 hours in such amazing virgin dunes and we all managed to explore a wonderful new area for future drives - greater good.

@Warren Flay you were absolutely amazing in second lead and while reading your above comment I was laughing that many will value the churned up sand, cross track, struggle and fight more than second lead. Its good to have all-round experience and Im glad you've enjoyed the newly tested SL position. Thanks for being very responsible second lead today.

@S Jacob as I havent heard anything from you during the whole drive means you were simply amazing too and had a good time.

@John Vanderbleek heartiest congratulations on seeing AD yummiest dunes on your very first fewbie drive. Although at few places it was tad above fewbie level, but you did great. That's how slowly and gently we keep pushing the level to test the drivers ability, sometimes I do it on purpose but today was totally situational. Very minor refusal you had that's part and parcel of this game and you shouldn't worry at all about them. You have a wonderful FJC, keep enjoying the drive, nature and your car.

@Damien Ranjit you've taken this shape Pathfinder to great heights and I have seen your amazing drive at Iftar bowl too few weeks back. You just need to practice on self-recovery skills as controlling the gas pedal when you are stuck is the biggest job that will get you out faster. Secondly while someone is preparing for a tug, you ALWAYS need to make sure that you are in right gearing. You could've blown your transmission today while in D when Aisha was recovering you from the back.

@munkybizness Mr. Yokohama supporter driving Geo's today as I haven't heard any refusal or stuck means you've been in complete sync with your beast (I mean Patrol). Nice to see your father on drive today, who is as cool as you when it comes to such sporting activity.

@Christian Andras it was so good to see you today, after a very long time and that too with your boys to help you deflate, put-up flag and recover. Perfect father-son bonding activity. Hope they have enjoyed today and feeling fine after hitting the tarmac. You've been an amazing center support today considering that we are so tight in the morning. And my apology once again to not to give your rope chance to pull me, after so hard maneuver you did to position yourself. Now you believe too that my Pajero has soul, lolol. I rem something very similar happened last year with @Tbone. I was crested with all 3 wheels spinning, he positioned himself for recovery and soon before he can pull, rear diff-lock did some magic and I was out without a tug.

@ShereenMK I see you enjoying LC100 it reminds me of my days when I had the same car. Difference was I never manage to learn how to drive off-road properly on that car and you've manage to do that and lot more perfectly. Hope your LC was smiling today that even after you challenge her to get stuck, she didn't gave you any chance and you manage the whole drive with zero stuck. Well done.

@Santoso Marjuki it's been third drive so far with me and you are getting better after every drive, except the lesson - to not to fight the gravity. Maybe in your next drive you pay close attention to all other drivers doing the sidey, long slopes etc. before you to see how they manage their vehicle after the U-Turn or when momentum fades off - Steer down, steer down, steer down without a question and irrespective if you have 200 hp or 300 hp car. As a law of physics no one can fight gravity without momentum, so when gravity pulls you down, instead of fighting, we simply surrender and point our car nose down towards the gravity and come down slowly. You have a beautiful car and you know how to off-road safely, so just work on this issue with greater presence of mind, focus and attention to detail.

@Josh T. its always pleasure to see you on any drive. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE your attitude and mindset toward offroading is to enjoy the nature, drive and meet new people - way to go. I keep on telling everyone that instead of racing through the number of drives to seek quick promotion ENJOY THE JOURNEY. And that's what I always see with your positive attitude and approach. Thanks for welcoming Dubai members to Abu Dhabi and enjoying the drive as one big family beyond any borders

@Aisha S its the first we drove together and I must say I was impressed with your driving, confidence and steering control on tall climbs. You've been fantastic today with all the banter and keeping an entertaining company. Enjoy your next 3 drives.

@Arman Thanks for wonderful sweep duties today, hope you have enjoyed the cross tracks and struggle more and it offered you a good breather from your regular convoy position. As always you've been fantastic and good support buddy.

Have a nice weekend, see you all soon again.

Definitely a wonderful drive. It was my first drive at AD and definitely worth the long drive from Dubai. The trip was fun as planned and had a lot to offer in terms of scenic and huge dunes. 

Thanks @Aisha Sfor the rear tug and thanks @Gaurav for noticing the wheel spin and avoiding the Oops movement. Actually the car was not engaging in 4Lo and I had to move it R and D twice before I could get it engaged and it left me diverted. Also thanks for the tip on the self recovery. Will work on it. 

[John Vanderbleek]

On 9/24/2021 at 9:55 PM, Damien Ranjit said:

Definitely a wonderful drive. It was my first drive at AD and definitely worth the long drive from Dubai. The trip was fun as planned and had a lot to offer in terms of scenic and huge dunes. 

Thanks @Aisha Sfor the rear tug and thanks @Gaurav for noticing the wheel spin and avoiding the Oops movement. Actually the car was not engaging in 4Lo and I had to move it R and D twice before I could get it engaged and it left me diverted. Also thanks for the tip on the self recovery. Will work on it. 

For the first Fewbie experience....WOW!!! Thanks to all for that excellent adventure Friday morning and especially to Gaurav for taking us through those dunes with minimal stoppages. It certainly was a learning experience for me and thank you all for your encouragement and fine examples of driving for me to observe. I look forward to the next time out. 

John