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Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - D66: The Way Back (Faqa to Lisaili) - Dubai - 17 Sep 2022


Ale Vallecchi

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This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and strictly follow these guidelines.

 

MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: 

 

Drive Details

Level:  Fewbie and above 

Meeting time: 7:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions)

Meeting Point: Dropped pin
https://maps.app.goo.gl/otDzJi6F96xT7KVx7

Action Plan:  As you know E66 is the so called Dubai-Al Ain Road. Not everybody knows that there is a "highway" running in the desert, parallel to E66, which is aptly nicknamed D66, or Desert 66. This route has been already experimented a couple of drives, this past August, in the direction leading to Faqa. This time we'll try to spice things up a bit, by driving in the opposite direction, usually against the slip-faces, towards Lisaili: lots of criss-crossing, some technical areas, a few long range dunes toward Lisaili. 

 

Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance.

What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Approximate finish time: 10:30 AM

P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive.

LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE:

  • Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM.
    • If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list
  • Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS.
  • Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS.
  • Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list.
  • Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others.
  • Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month.

 

PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

 

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59 minutes ago, Zubair said:

Hi Ale

 

i could not see the meeting point in the event details. Also the finish time is mentioned as 6.30PM (I don’t know whether it is only my problem 🤔)

 

zubair 

Hi @Zubair. Meeting point just published and the exit hour updated. Thanks for noticing,.

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Dear Desertnauts

fresh off the plane, let's plan tomorrow's trip.

First thing, the meeting point has been set at Faqa's sabkha, reachable by taking the exit just before that of the actual Faqa Town. Please note that the meeting time will be 7AM, and that we'll try to start as close to the meeting time as possible (so try to reach a little earlier.

The drive plans to drive in a northerly direction, across the slip-faces, hence we may have to drive with a little more patience, to find the right places where to criss-cross the soft slopes and ridges. Initially we'll find more ling range dunes, which will leave room to more technical terrain, made more unpredictable by a bit of vegetation. Once arrived at Murqaab, depending on the time we'll have taken, we may either continue north, across a more technical area, toward the sabkhas just west of Margham, on the way to Lisaili's long range dunes, or we may take a shortcut on the "highway to Solar Park", and reach Lisaili plateau through this shorter route.

The convoy will line up as follows:

@Alexanderrr in Second Lead

@Zulfikhar Naiyar at #3

@Paolo Pellegrini #4

@Jessica Lambert at #5

@Ignacio Quindós will be #6

@Ivan P #7

@Vanessa8580 will Center the convoy

@Miguel Codes at #9

@Pierre de Maigret #10

@Zubair at #11

@Gurcharan Mehta #12, and 

@Rob S in Sweep.

The convoy has been built to alternate Fewbies, with Fewbie Plus's or above, so that each lower ranked driver will be following the lines of more experienced driver, The presence of another Marshal (thanks to @Vanessa8580) makes the convoy even stronger and safer.

The Carnity Radio Channel chosen for tomorrow will be #3 (446056).

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Enjoy the evening.

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1 hour ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Dear Desertnauts

fresh off the plane, let's plan tomorrow's trip.

First thing, the meeting point has been set at Faqa's sabkha, reachable by taking the exit just before that of the actual Faqa Town. Please note that the meeting time will be 7AM, and that we'll try to start as close to the meeting time as possible (so try to reach a little earlier.

The drive plans to drive in a northerly direction, across the slip-faces, hence we may have to drive with a little more patience, to find the right places where to criss-cross the soft slopes and ridges. Initially we'll find more ling range dunes, which will leave room to more technical terrain, made more unpredictable by a bit of vegetation. Once arrived at Murqaab, depending on the time we'll have taken, we may either continue north, across a more technical area, toward the sabkhas just west of Margham, on the way to Lisaili's long range dunes, or we may take a shortcut on the "highway to Solar Park", and reach Lisaili plateau through this shorter route.

The convoy will line up as follows:

@Alexanderrr in Second Lead

@Zulfikhar Naiyar at #3

@Paolo Pellegrini #4

@Jessica Lambert at #5

@Ignacio Quindós will be #6

@Ivan P #7

@Vanessa8580 will Center the convoy

@Miguel Codes at #9

@Pierre de Maigret #10

@Zubair at #11

@Goutham Krishna #12, and 

@Rob S in Sweep.

The convoy has been built to alternate Fewbies, with Fewbie Plus's or above, so that each lower ranked driver will be following the lines of more experienced driver, The presence of another Marshal (thanks to @Vanessa8580) makes the convoy even stronger and safer.

The Carnity Radio Channel chosen for tomorrow will be #3 (446056).

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Enjoy the evening.

Hello Ale,

 

Looking forward to the drive, just noticed that my name isn't listed, hope that can be resolved. 

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49 minutes ago, Gurcharan Mehta said:

Hello Ale,

 

Looking forward to the drive, just noticed that my name isn't listed, hope that can be resolved. 

Sorry @Gurcharan Mehta. I mistakenly took the wrong suggestion from the auto-fill function. You're IN the drive, at #12 in the convoy. Sorry for the mistake. See you tomorrow.

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Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for leading us through the sands on Saturday. Well done to @Alexanderrr for SL, and thanks to @Vanessa8580 for joining us as CF, great to catchup! 

I didn't see much of the front of the convoy, other than a great rope recovery of @Paolo Pellegrini by @Jessica Lambert, very well executed for your first time!

At the back @Pierre de Maigret you drove really well in your FJ, I didn't see the issue that caused your pop-out, but it was quickly fixed and we were back in the convoy before too long. Overtime, you will find the right balance between power and momentum to fully enjoy the climbs and riding the ridges. 

@Gurcharan Mehta you also drove very well, just one minor refusal, where the land cruisers crawl control enabled you to reverse back off the ridge. I think, you just needed a bit more momentum or could have steered down slightly earlier, but the more drives you have, the easier this will be to find the balance. 

@Zulfikhar Naiyar nice to see you again, Xterra is very good car for the desert and I can see you are improving with every drive, and every refusal is a learning opportunity. Occasionally, you needed slightly more momentum to make sure you reached the ridge/crest, overtime this will become second nature to you! Some superb self recoveries when you did get stuck though! Thanks for following the guidance carefully! 

Unfortunately towards the end of the drive, we had issue where @Ivan P ended up slightly off-line while climbing the dune and ended up in a sand pocket. A reminder to us all how important it is to make sure you follow the track, and also the balance between speed and momentum. I hope the car is okay and we see you in the desert again soon. Thanks to @Ignacio Quindós and @Miguel Codes for the help with the recovery with your winches under the guidance of our Marshalls! 

See you all again soon! 

 

Edited by Rob S
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Thank you @Ale Vallecchi, @Vanessa8580 and fellow Prado brother @Rob S for a great first drive back after a summer break, and my first drive in the new Prado! Thank you Ale and @Paolo Pellegrini for the opportunity to do my first recovery (very different to be on the recovering end for once!). 

Thank you Ale for pointing out so many interesting things- after the camel herd passed us at the brief, we saw a falcon trainer with his birds, a camel grave yard, and some deer in addition to the pristine sands of the Lisaili/Faqa area.

The lines got a little more difficult to follow as the sun got higher, meaning we didn't have the shadows to guide us on the light sand of this area. This made a tricky balance between keeping close enough to see the line of the car in front and keeping enough space to safely gather momentum at the right time.

Looking forward to it cooling down so we can socialise a little more on breaks. It's great to see you all again!

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