Morning Fewbie Plus Desert Drive - Sweihan (South) - Abu Dhabi - 17 Dec 2021

[Srikumar]

Convoy 2 Trip Report

Firstly, I want to thank the patience of the entire convoy for exiting out twice well ahead of time. To say that the drive was difficult would be an understatement. The entire area of Sweihan has still not recovered from the bulldozers that have ravaged this beautiful terrain 2 months ago. In fact it seemed like fresh tracks were made with no virgin dunes available. 

All of this contributed to a sick passenger. It's good to know @munkybizness that he is feeling better. For a brief moment after we exited the first time, we had some small stretch of virgin dunes were we could do a bit of side slopping and criss crossing. But that's when I heard a loud sound from my rear axle after a crisscross to only realise that my both side rear leaf suspensions were toast and the shocks just holding up the car. With no possibility of continuing the drive we quickly exited out. Sorry guys, as this was not what I had in mind when we started this morning.

To add to an even more frustrating day, the recovery took the dirt track instead of the tarmac to reach my car, resulting in him getting stuck in the sand. 

Such days makes one realize that in offroading, you are venturing into the unknown and there are always the possibility of things not going as per plan. But it's important to keep a calm mind and with an excellent team things can get resolved. 

I look forward to driving with this group another time in a better terrain.

Till then take care. 

[Mehmet Volga]

After meeting right on time with 15 cars together, we smoothly started our drives in two convoys keeping different tracks. I had driven in this area some time ago, a fewbie plus again, and it was clear from everything but just sand and wonderful dunes & bowls to play. Now, like the part at northern Sweihan, it is full of those bulldozer tracks, solar panels, cables, plugs and poles... We couldn't keep enough pace for a Fwb+ due to numerous cross tracks killing more than half of all playable dunes so caused 30 min overtime at the end. We had to keep it slow because it was risky to attempt on the dunes as many of them were suddenly broken with those tracks. It was really sad to see the dunes which I have previously ride on were completely non-approachable...

Anyhow, we managed to exploit some dunes and bowls in between them and had our play time enough to make us laugh. It seems we will have to wait some months to visit that area again, as @Warren Flay pointed, until the Mother Nature has recovered her wounds by blowing winds. 

Sorry to hear @Srikumar had a broken suspension and the second convoy had to exit early, but no worries, you didn't miss too much...

Drive report for convoy 1:

The performance of the first convoy was outstanding, excellent long hill climbs, wider sideys and criss-crossings worth to record.

Adrenalin pumped for @Zed today; flying over the bump and "teleporting" from the top of the dune... breathtaking experience buddy! Thank you for your excellent 2nd lead as well!

@Pacific had his standard mood in being extremely boring with effortless reaching up to the tops, except the last bowl close to be crested (that was my Pajero's turn to smile in watching 😉) . Center support fulfilled bro 💪

@JeromeFJ, thank you for your great support today my friend. Especially the last bowl couldn't be beaten without your perfect guiding. You lifted each car one by one and set the convoy back!

@Karthikeyan Govindarajan, couldn't count how many "minus" points you got today, all to be considered in your next promotion 😁. Good to see you in plus buddy, keep it up! (but do not think I missed that fishtailing 😉)

Other boring guys;

@Josh T. ; really enjoyed watching your amazing control on that heavy truck! Huge progress you have made in very near past bro. Well done!

@Hasan Wahlan ; flawless ride buddy! let's have more on a clearer route next time

@Farouq Owdeh ; didn't know you are in competition with @Pacific as I got bored in waiting you to fail... Let's try something "technical" next time 😉 Keep it up friend 💪

Lessons learnt for today;

I think we need to mention some events of today;

@Zed unwanted dune crossing close to roll over; as I explained on the radio, you all need to consider "centrifugal force" impact while climbing and looping on bowls/dunes. When you follow a looping track in a circle, additional force pushes you out, meaning that the momentum is bigger than the one in straight climbs. This may pull you on a higher track, and even over the top if there is no path to move up there. So keep this in your mind on the "rounded tracks" and lower your speed accordingly.

@Karthikeyan Govindarajan's fishtailing and @Farouq Owdeh's over speed during their return from climbing... The risk with fishtailing is again to roll over, in Karthik's case, he was a bit late to slow down + changed his track with making a sharp turn instead of keeping straight.  Farouq's was a straight down coming, but again a bit fast bringing damage risk by hitting his bumper at the bottom. The main reason in such is that speedy climbs reaching at tops creates some satisfaction on the drivers' mood and this may lead disruption of your attention while returning back.

To avoid all above, it is always safer to make your first attempt on an easy and slower way in order to check the conditions, understand the track, see the bumps and other obstacles and then make your second attempt with a speed adjusted accordingly...

Thank you all for another lovely day. I love driving with you. See you next time on the sand!

[Zed]

Thank you @Mehmet Volga for leading today's drive and bringing us all safely to the starting point 👍🏻 Well-noted on the advice captain, I had a look at the video and realized my mistake was because I didn't want to crash into the 2 trees, I overspeeded and missed turning down (from where i was sitting it looked like there is still more sand in front, didn't know it belonged to the other side 😂).  Alhamdulillah we are all safe 🙏🏻

Great support from @JeromeFJ he was shepherding those "lost sheeps" back into the main track. @Pacific great to have another Banter Buddy in the convoy, you lifted up the spirits from the Middle of the Convoy, supporting very well everytime an unnamed driver blame the 2nd lead for churning out the sand 😅

Thank you Sweihan Boys @Hasan Wahlan @Farouq Owdeh @Josh T. @Karthikeyan Govindarajan  for driving today, great camaraderie & reunion after some time 👍🏻

[Pacific]

13 minutes ago, Zed said:

Thank you @Mehmet Volga for leading today's drive and bringing us all safely to the starting point 👍🏻 Well-noted on the advice captain, I had a look at the video and realized my mistake was because I didn't want to crash into the 2 trees, I overspeeded and missed turning down (from where i was sitting it looked like there is still more sand in front, didn't know it belonged to the other side 😂).  Alhamdulillah we are all safe 🙏🏻

Great support from @JeromeFJ he was shepherding those "lost sheeps" back into the main track. @Pacific great to have another Banter Buddy in the convoy, you lifted up the spirits from the Middle of the Convoy, supporting very well everytime an unnamed driver blame the 2nd lead for churning out the sand 😅

Thank you Sweihan Boys @Hasan Wahlan @Farouq Owdeh @Josh T. @Karthikeyan Govindarajan  for driving today, great camaraderie & reunion after some time 👍🏻

@Zed to support anyone is the spirit of Carnity 😊. Thanks bro ,hope to see you more on dunes .

41 minutes ago, Mehmet Volga said:

After meeting right on time with 15 cars together, we smoothly started our drives in two convoys keeping different tracks. I had driven in this area some time ago, a fewbie plus again, and it was clear from everything but just sand and wonderful dunes & bowls to play. Now, like the part at northern Sweihan, it is full of those bulldozer tracks, solar panels, cables, plugs and poles... We couldn't keep enough pace for a Fwb+ due to numerous cross tracks killing more than half of all playable dunes so caused 30 min overtime at the end. We had to keep it slow because it was risky to attempt on the dunes as many of them were suddenly broken with those tracks. It was really sad to see the dunes which I have previously ride on were completely non-approachable...

Anyhow, we managed to exploit some dunes and bowls in between them and had our play time enough to make us laugh. It seems we will have to wait some months to visit that area again, as @Warren Flay pointed, until the Mother Nature has recovered her wounds by blowing winds. 

Sorry to hear @Srikumar had a broken suspension and the second convoy had to exit early, but no worries, you didn't miss too much...

Drive report for convoy 1:

The performance of the first convoy was outstanding, excellent long hill climbs, wider sideys and criss-crossings worth to record.

Adrenalin pumped for @Zed today; flying over the bump and "teleporting" from the top of the dune... breathtaking experience buddy! Thank you for your excellent 2nd lead as well!

@Pacific had his standard mood in being extremely boring with effortless reaching up to the tops, except the last bowl close to be crested (that was my Pajero's turn to smile in watching 😉) . Center support fulfilled bro 💪

@JeromeFJ, thank you for your great support today my friend. Especially the last bowl couldn't be beaten without your perfect guiding. You lifted each car one by one and set the convoy back!

@Karthikeyan Govindarajan, couldn't count how many "minus" points you got today, all to be considered in your next promotion 😁. Good to see you in plus buddy, keep it up! (but do not think I missed that fishtailing 😉)

Other boring guys;

@Josh T. ; really enjoyed watching your amazing control on that heavy truck! Huge progress you have made in very near past bro. Well done!

@Hasan Wahlan ; flawless ride buddy! let's have more on a clearer route next time

@Farouq Owdeh ; didn't know you are in competition with @Pacific as I got bored in waiting you to fail... Let's try something "technical" next time 😉 Keep it up friend 💪

Lessons learnt for today;

I think we need to mention some events of today;

@Zed unwanted dune crossing close to roll over; as I explained on the radio, you all need to consider "centrifugal force" impact while climbing and looping on bowls/dunes. When you follow a looping track in a circle, additional force pushes you out, meaning that the momentum is bigger than the one in straight climbs. This may pull you on a higher track, and even over the top if there is no path to move up there. So keep this in your mind on the "rounded tracks" and lower your speed accordingly.

@Karthikeyan Govindarajan's fishtailing and @Farouq Owdeh's over speed during their return from climbing... The risk with fishtailing is again to roll over, in Karthik's case, he was a bit late to slow down + changed his track with making a sharp turn instead of keeping straight.  Farouq's was a straight down coming, but again a bit fast bringing damage risk by hitting his bumper at the bottom. The main reason in such is that speedy climbs reaching at tops creates some satisfaction on the drivers' mood and this may lead disruption of your attention while returning back.

To avoid all above, it is always safer to make your first attempt on an easy and slower way in order to check the conditions, understand the track, see the bumps and other obstacles and then make your second attempt with a speed adjusted accordingly...

Thank you all for another lovely day. I love driving with you. See you next time on the sand!

Very great observation @Mehmet Volga of the entire convoy .

 

I would love to technical ,hope we get one day. Thank you for wonderful drive. 

 

[M.Seidam]

2 hours ago, Srikumar said:

Such days makes one realize that in offroading, you are venturing into the unknown and there are always the possibility of things not going as per plan. But it's important to keep a calm mind and with an excellent team things can get resolved. 

💯 % Totally agree . 🤞Sri 

[M.Seidam]

2 hours ago, Mehmet Volga said:

it is always safer to make your first attempt on an easy and slower way in order to check the conditions, understand the track, see the bumps and other obstacles and then make your second attempt with a speed adjusted accordingly...

Dear Mehmet , You hit it to the cor point 💯👍

[JeromeFJ]

Many thanks @Mehmet Volga for the drive today ! Despite the cross tracks and ditches, you managed to take us from one face to the other, from one bowl to the new one. Even if the pace was discontinued, we could really enjoy each of the play areas. Thank you also for the detailed drive report.

Playing was really the word of the day, as it seems we have each of us enjoyed a lot taking the different challenges, pushing our cars higher on the slopes, and challenging each other in an always friendly way.

@Zed, excellent 2nd lead, and always so enthusiastic @Karthikeyan Govindarajan, @Josh T., nice meeting you for the first time, @Pacific, for the first time in Sweihan, you pushed the Jeep to the top, @Hasan Wahlan, always a pleasure to drive with you. @Farouq Owdeh, the sound of your engine made me believe mine was off !

Excellent level for the group, good drive, good laughs, all what we need ! Thank you all. (See a few pics in the gallery, waiting for the videos )

@Srikumarsorry to hear your mishap, hopefully it can get fixed without too much troubles…

[JeromeFJ]

For the trenches crossing the dunes, and the cables and sensors, you can have a look at this previous post.

it does not make them better, but at least we understand the purpose !

 

[ShereenMK]

9 hours ago, JeromeFJ said:

For the trenches crossing the dunes, and the cables and sensors, you can have a look at this previous post.

it does not make them better, but at least we understand the purpose !

 

What will happen if they find oil or gas there?

[Warren Flay]

15 minutes ago, ShereenMK said:

What will happen if they find oil or gas there?

The National Drilling company and the CICPA will move in with their rigs and their pipelines and their barbed wire and guns and we will never see Sweihan again.