Jump to content
  •  

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


Ale Vallecchi

Recommended Posts

6 hours ago, Rob S said:

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! 

yep, that was a mistake from my side... thought the big engine would "drag-me-up".... it did, on the wrong side :P lesson learnt

BTW, with my car, on that condition, with the "long front hood" I could not really see the tracks... no excuses, but just a lesson learnt

car is good, just front bumber damage :) will be back soon!

Thank you @Ignacio Quindós and @Miguel Codes for the nice "winch pulls" :P

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Faqa to Lisaili: The Way Back - Drive Report

"I know you are tired but come, this is the way" - Rumi

Tired we all were, after almost 4 hours into the drive, when a series of stucks occurred, in the most unpredictable patch of "technical" dunes, just next to Lisaili's camel track. But, as the poet Rumi says, we found a way.

It took us almost 1 extra hour, with tugs and multiple winch action, but we eventually did it. The tiring last hour of the drive capped an otherwise smooth itinerary, which had however started with @Miguel Codes losing one of his Wrangler's shocks (not to worry ..... evidently Jeeps can do without at least one shock, as Miguel continued and concluded the drive brilliantly). 

In between, nothing but excellent driving, minor refusals, a couple of quick tags, and a quickly fixed pop-out, to go from Faqa's sabkha, across Desert Highway 66, back up to Murqaab first, and then Lisaili's sabkhas and long-range dunes. From the time the shock was removed from Miguel's car to when we took our first break, it needed only 1 hr and 40 min. to drive up to Lisaili's sabkhas, that is to cover most of the drive's distance. 

As it usually happens after a break, concentration dropped, which likely caused a pop-out to happen, while exiting a ridge-riding on a long curvy, but low, dune, onto the hard flat surface which often awaits in this kind of terrain. My suggestion, in such cases, is not to let the car slide down the soft slope sideways, but to try and direct the wheels more perpendicularly toward the hard landing point. 

As we neared the planned exit, I chose to enter an unpredictable stretch of technical dunes: sometimes it is navigated with ease, others it becomes a nightmare of refusals and stucks, with multiple cars struggling to come out of tight bowls and soft ridges. This time it was the latter case. So, after tugging my Second Lead out of a soft bowl (with almost the whole front of the car up in the air), we had to first tug, and later winch, the big F150 truck, which understandably had the hardest time clearing such tight spaces. Considering the time spent with these incidents, we chose to find an easier exit, along the pylon track instead of the camel track. 

All in all, a great drive by the whole convoy, with a perfect Second Lead executed by @Alexanderrr, a safe and secure Sweep by @Rob S, a steadfast and always encouraging support by Marshal @Vanessa8580 , and a skillful performance by @Zulfikhar Naiyar, @Paolo Pellegrini, @Jessica Lambert@Ignacio Quindós, @Ivan P, @Miguel Codes@Pierre de Maigret, and @Gurcharan Mehta

The drive ended up covering 70.4 Km, in a total of 4:55 hours (2:57 of driving time), at 24 Km/h moving average (and 14 Km/h total).

Thanks to all, and look forward to seeing you soon.

  • Like (+1) 1
  • Thanks (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of use