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Full Day Fewbie Desert Drive - Liwa Yellow Truck - Abu Dhabi - 02 Dec 2021 - Richard


Wrangeld

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Post Drive Report Liwa YT #2

Waking up inside my condensation filled tent on Thursday morning I was filled with a little trepidation of the drive and day to come on what would be my 2nd lead into Liwa in search of the Yellow Truck. I should not have worried. With a fantastic convoy and support, we completed the drive in less time than I expected and without incident - a blessing for all, as it meant that the day was not extended to the point where drivers are too tired to continue to concentrate, and we had such wonderful smooth running that the people on this convoy are probably asking 'what's all the fuss about?'. 

My first call out is going to the amazing support team. First on what list is @Thomas Varghese. I asked Thomas to play the role as sweep for the day. He has massive experience, so I knew his drive ability already. What I saw was a fantastically supportive, balanced and enthusiastic support throughout the day. We benefitted from the fact that at the back of the convoy no-one was left behind, that the drivers at the end knew there was help nearby if anything happened and we did not have a lot of radio chatter so everyone could focus on the task in hand. 

@Richard Franks has been my 2nd lead before. I knew I could trust him to follow where needed and find another way if required. In these drives that is not the easiest of tasks, but Richard managed to reroute when I came across the recently born camel and her mother and after I had driven into the only impossible to escape from bowl of the day. Other than that, Richard faithfully and expertly led the convoy leaving me to focus on navigating the best possible route forward. 

While it was not the busiest day for support, @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil demonstrated once again his immense value on a convoy. It leads to a question: Does Alain ever lose his cool? Probably not. Even though he had spent 6 hours in recovery mode the day before, this was also a flawless performance. 

The rest of the guys on the convoy @Damien Ranjit @ShereenMK @Alphin Aloor @Nabeel Abdul Rahman & @Alexanderrr you were amazing. You were the first Carnity convoy to see the revised Yellow (not so Yellow UAE 50th flag) Truck. Because of the incredible skill you showed, the additional time that I factored in on the drive for refusals and recoveries, was simply not needed..  Never under estimate your achievement in driving this route, through some of the softest sand patches we face, the star shaped technical dunes, climbs to the top of dunes and descents to the bottom as anything other than magnificent. 

Truly, I was surprised at how quickly we made it through the drive. And, as I say, we could have pushed harder, of course, we could have added a few more climbs and descents, or play bowls: but let's put that into the context of the day. The two other convoys that were from Carnity that left with us both had to return to the start because of mechanical failure of one of their vehicles. Neither made it to the main road before it was dark. 

You also benefitted from the recce drive I had made the previous day ... because we could increase the pace significantly as I knew where we were headed. 

For me, it was a perfect 50th Anniversary drive, because I could claim to have gone to one of the iconic UAE 4x4 locations, witness the transformation of the Yellow Truck into the Yellow UAE Flag Truck and still get home to Dubai to enjoy an evening of National Day celebrations.

You can't ask for more than that. 

See you soon in the sand.

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Thank you Richard @Wrangeld for your kind words of appreciation. Under your lead we achieved what we came for to LIWA all the way from Dubai. Kudos to all the drivers in the convoy. Most of them were new faces to me but they all drove well. Everyone stuck to the instructions of the Marshal and everyone made it to Yellow Truck & back. As Richard explained to us at the end of the drive we have come here to see the Yellow Truck and we did that without a single mishap. Great lead and great planning from the Desert Champ @Wrangeld. It would have been a disaster getting a malfunction in a car so far inside the desert and Richard made sure we stuck to our goal even though the temptations were plenty. Not even one passenger complained of motion sickness or any discomfort. The credit goes to only Richard for the careful selection of tracks. The beauty of the landscape was stunning and I have shared some pictures in the gallery. The best picture I liked is of the Marshal itself. 

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Thank you @Wrangeld for this amazing experience ! I missed the Yellow / UAE truck the day before, and I would have been sad if after 2 nights in a cold, condensation filled tent I didn't get to see it. Allow me to point out you were the only Marshal to make it twice to YT 👏👏👏

It is always a pleasure and a source of great learning to drive with you, and I was happy I didn't have much support to do - it allowed me to enjoy the ride, the majestic scenery and to take in the performance we achieved. I have to thank the convoy for that :)

@Richard Franks always nice to see you and perfect 2nd lead.
@Thomas Varghese that was the 3rd adventure in 3 days together and perfect attention at the back.

 @Damien Ranjit @ShereenMK @Alphin Aloor @Nabeel Abdul Rahman & @Alexanderrr you made a beautiful and well driven convoy ! As @Wrangeldsaid, you can be proud and claim you made it in and out of Liwa !

Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and see you soon !

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