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Afternoon Newbie Desert Drive - Bab Al Shams - Dubai - 6 Nov 2021


Foxtrot Oscar

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Drive report

We set off after the brief and headed along the track and into the blistering white dunes of Bab al Shams. We weren’t long into the drive when @Erik Ean had an issue, at first we thought it was the car’s over protective system but as we moved along the dunes Erik heard an unwelcome sound and his transmission light came on. That was that , hope you get it resolved soon.

We had some more delays and @Alex Raptor was in action with the rope to come to the aid of the stuck drivers. With the delay I decided to try and get as much drive time as we could, I avoided the trickier patches of technical dunes and headed to the wide-open spaces the area has. This afforded the convoy the opportunity to practice some side sloping. One by one all tackled the dunes with aplomb. It really was terrific driving by the entire convoy. There wasn't a fishtail to be seen, and all managed to get just the right amount of momentum. Fantastic!

We managed to cover quite a bit of ground in the middle section and with the sun beginning to dip I decided to head to the exit. We hit another patch of soft sand at a tricky spot, and the one stuck car took a while to recover. The sun was beginning to set and the chance of losing the light became real.  Rather than risking more refusals I rerouted the convoy.

We had one or two more refusals before we finally reached the track, with the newbie convoy getting to experience a bit of night driving. With one final stuck just at the track caused by the super soft construction sand, some shovelling, and a short tug resolved the issue.

Newbie drives are all about getting used to what your car can do and understanding how to handle it in the sand. When the sand is soft we use the car’s momentum to get us through it, we also wiggle the steering wheel to help with traction. You’ll all start to get a feel for this as you continue on your off-road journey.

@Erik Ean hope the issue is easily resolved with your car

@Bruno Finel. You managed a couple of great self recoveries towards the end of the drive and you handled the side slopes really well with no fishtailing. Well done

@Shantanu Joshi , nice recoveries when needed and another who coped well with the side sloping well done.

@Mark Shepherd – great driving, I don’t think you had any issues bar one self recovery. Well done

@Michel Van Woudenberg – great to see that beautiful car of yours in its natural habitat. You handled it really well. Great drive

@Imteeaz Goolamhossen – I don’t think you had a single issue all day. You handle the power in the SS really well, applying a touch of finesse when required. Great drive.

@KAMALIO – A nice easy drive for you today. Well done

@Mohamed Shawky – You handled that big truck really well, especially in those tight spots towards the end of the drive. I think you only had one refusal . Great drive

@Manish Kashyap – Same as Mohamed , handling a big truck in tight dunes takes some skills. Well done.



Many thanks to @Alex Raptor for his excellent support and for his report above. Thank you @basel el rafei for being my CF and thanks @salah2u for an excellent 2nd lead.

Finally, we covered 45km, driving for 2hrs20 and stopping for 1hr30. Not bad
😉

Until our next adventure 

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Thanks @Foxtrot Oscar for leading us through the soft sands.  We faced lots of stucks in the convoy which only gave us chance to bond with the rest of the group while waiting so all happens for the best.

The highlight was where we all stopped to inflate was really soft sand as well and next thing we know when @Foxtrot Oscarand @Alex Raptor leave we have 5 cars inflated and stuck 😂.  Fortunately there was one car that was not and pulled one out and there-forth we all worked as a team and bail each other out while we blocked the entire on coming traffic on the highway.

Lesson 1 : Never inflate on soft sand 😄 Never again.

Lesson 2: Afternoon drives can become night drives sometimes 😜

Lesson 3: Use the stuck time to make some new friends 🙃

 

 

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1 hour ago, KAMALIO said:

Thanks @Foxtrot Oscar for leading us through the soft sands.  We faced lots of stucks in the convoy which only gave us chance to bond with the rest of the group while waiting so all happens for the best.

The highlight was where we all stopped to inflate was really soft sand as well and next thing we know when @Foxtrot Oscarand @Alex Raptor leave we have 5 cars inflated and stuck 😂.  Fortunately there was one car that was not and pulled one out and there-forth we all worked as a team and bail each other out while we blocked the entire on coming traffic on the highway.

Lesson 1 : Never inflate on soft sand 😄 Never again.

Lesson 2: Afternoon drives can become night drives sometimes 😜

Lesson 3: Use the stuck time to make some new friends 🙃

 

 

Lesson 1: Listen to the lead when she tells you not to park in the soft sand (3 or 4 times I announced this) 😅
Lesson 2: In off-roading be prepared for anything 😇
Lesson 3: Stucks are what make us better 😍


Glad you all got out safely,  well done 😬

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For those curious about what happened with the Subaru... 

Confirmed, I had a crack in the rear diff caused by me doing crazy stuff 3 days before the drive when i was camping. I got hit by a rock.

Still waiting the metal squid plates to arrive from USA.

A friend in Dubai had the spare parts of a old diff, he made a "Frankenstein" and replaced the cracked shell of my diff. My diff was almost dry and i was running basically in 2 wheel drive. 

See you next time 😂

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