Morning Intermediate Desert Drive - Little Sweihan - Dubai - 13 Aug 2022

[Anoop Nair]

Thankyou @Gaurav Sonifor today's challenging as well as exciting drive. Everyone handled the challenge thrown at them brilliantly and it was real fun to be with all familiar faces. The area was an untouched hidden gem and weather was also really good for a summer day.  Hope you will revisit this area soon for another exciting drive.

[GauravSoni]

Drive report:

a surprisingly cool summer morning   + bunch of skilled off-roaders +  untouched beauty of little sweihan dunes…we couldn’t have asked for a better combination. 
we started the drive around 5.40 am   after a quick briefing and quickly made our way to the long ridges , riding our way to our first pit stop to catch the bright white sun rise (cloudy horizon). 
I particularly enjoy taking some time  10 -15 mins stop to soak in the calmness of the desert during the drive. Gives us time to connect, chat with our fellow dune surfers. 
Charged, we made our way towards the second set of dunes (south qudra). We had couple of re attempts , looping, refusals… however I made it clear at the start that at IM level I wouldn’t be holding the convoy unless we have a stuck and to keep the radio free! 

The convoy responded with brilliant coordination and drove amazingly until , on a tricky maneuver my SL Simon had to loop around forcing ASADs Prado Stuck on a soft side slope.  It was nice to see him assessing the car situation, then deciding to shovel, and with muscle power of Anoop , Simon and Charlie, managed to self recover. 
 

we continued our journey to the soft   Sand and deep bowls of little sweihan  driving parallel to sabka, climbing slip faces and tricky ridges. 
we had a couple of stops to fix the Bumper on Charlie’s pathfinder. 
We made our way slowly towards the patch of virgin dunes , which to my surprise was an area I had never driven in all my previous drives.  Here I landed on a very soft powdered sand on a slope instantly sank with full tires buried. Trying to shovel was proving futile effort. I decided to give one last try while Anwer repositioned his car for a tug.  Switching on my traction with Diffs locked, and a constant gas with steering, managed to move the car and get out.  Thanks for the shoveling! 

Finally around 9 am we made our way out from the “Knifes Edge” into the long flat dunes south of solar park. 

Just as we decided to play around for another 15 minutes as I could see some nice high dunes, my car said enough! Black smoke and CEL!!

I instantly knew that it was a Mass airflow sensor failure and quickly made our way to the innovation center exit, reaching inflation point by 9.30 am.

It was a sense of achievement for the entire convoy (especially for drivers on the attempt last weekend) to see the plan to it’s conclusion.

well done @Simon Dawood for an impeccable 2nd Lead handling your pajero skillfully. 

brilliant self recovery @ASAD. . We get better each drive!

Well done @Tom B i am glad to know that you felt quite confident as the drive progressed and it was a huge improvement in your driving style as compared to our last time together.

radio silence from @Anoop Nair @Mohamad Anwer @Vaibhav @Ashok chaturvedi meant you guys hopefully enjoyed the drive! You guys drive superbly. 
 

@Daniel Yang you managed to get out of tricky situations very well! Well done. 

a big thankyou to @Hisham Masaadfor anchoring in the center and @Zixuan Huang - Charlie for sweeping. I hope you can find a solution for your bumper! 
 

See you all soon !!

 

[Vaibhav]

Such a wonderful morning with cool breeze welcoming us at the starting point. @Gaurav Soni Kudos to you for organizing this drive with a aim to conquer the knife's edge. Like i said in the first comment on this thread an All-star line up which means it was going to be an exciting drive.  The soft sand and virgin dunes added some more fun. @Simon Dawood good job as an 2nd lead. @Hisham Masaad no words to describe your leadership as a 2nd lead with supporting refusals. @Zixuan Huang - Charlie thank for your taking care at the back by sweeping. Such a pleasure meeting with the stars @ASAD. @Tom B @Anoop Nair @Mohamad Anwer  @Daniel Yang @Ashok chaturvedi. Looking forward to see you all on the sand soon. 

[Tom B]

@GauravSoni thanks for the feedback.

I really enjoyed this drive. Especially the last section as we converged towards the knifes edge.  Everyone drove superbly.

@Simon Dawood well done as 2L. You made it look easy, but we all know it is not.

And thanks to @Hisham Masaad and @Zixuan Huang - Charlie for performing CF and sweep duties so well. 

See you all soon. 

[Mohamad Anwer]

24 minutes ago, Vaibhav said:

Such a wonderful morning with cool breeze welcoming us at the starting point. @Gaurav Soni Kudos to you for organizing this drive with a aim to conquer the knife's edge. Like i said in the first comment on this thread an All-star line up which means it was going to be an exciting drive.  The soft sand and virgin dunes added some more fun. @Simon Dawood good job as an 2nd lead. @Hisham Masaad no words to describe your leadership as a 2nd lead with supporting refusals. @Zixuan Huang - Charlie thank for your taking care at the back by sweeping. Such a pleasure meeting with the stars @ASAD. @Tom B @Anoop Nair @Mohamad Anwer  @Daniel Yang @Ashok chaturvedi. Looking forward to see you all on the sand soon. 

What a drive @Gaurav Soniand as predicted from last week's drive we managed to get the mission accomplished this time! And wow the best part was the area we did not cover last week, unforgettable untouched area!

Having the king of Badayer @Hisham Masaadand the little Sweihan price @Gaurav Soni on the same drive was a real privilege 👌 😉 

Great SL and support @Simon Dawood@Zixuan Huang - Charlie

And what a great team @Tom B @ASAD.@Anoop Nair @Mohamad Anwer  @Daniel Yang @Ashok chaturvedi.

Welldone all for nice smooth driving

[Mohamad Anwer]

35 minutes ago, Mohamad Anwer said:

What a drive @Gaurav Soniand as predicted from last week's drive we managed to get the mission accomplished this time! And wow the best part was the area we did not cover last week, unforgettable untouched area!

Having the king of Badayer @Hisham Masaadand the little Sweihan price @Gaurav Soni on the same drive was a real privilege 👌 😉 

Great SL and support @Simon Dawood@Zixuan Huang - Charlie

And what a great team @Tom B @ASAD.@Anoop Nair @Mohamad Anwer  @Daniel Yang @Ashok chaturvedi.

Welldone all for nice smooth driving

And @Vaibhavoffcourse 

[Mohamad Anwer]

7 minutes ago, Mohamad Anwer said:

And @Vaibhavoffcourse 

😇😊☺️

[Hisham Masaad]

Thank you @Gaurav Sonifor the drive, successful one by all means. Weather, track, and participants, nothing else was required. Pleasure to see again all masters, controlled and managed to cross one of the most difficult routs. @Simon Dawood as usual, well managed SL.  @Zixuan Huang - Charliethank you for watching our back. Look forward to see you again @Anoop Nair @Tom B @ASAD. @Mohamad Anwer @Vaibhav @Daniel Yang @Ashok chaturvedi.

Nice weekend.

[M.Seidam]

Well done @GauravSoni little sweihan is always fun , your route reminds me of a drive similar but definitely not identical and we were 5 cars in total 👌

 

[GauravSoni]

1 hour ago, M.Seidam said:

Well done @GauravSoni little sweihan is always fun , your route reminds me of a drive similar but definitely not identical and we were 5 cars in total 👌

 

Yes indeed… one of the best areas in dubai… It’s a combination of the big dunes of Faqa and technicals of lisaili… absolute stunning.