Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Faqa to Solar Park - Dubai - 30 Sep 2023

[Looper]

 

DRIVE PLAN

Let's drive from Faqa this weekend. Our off-road adventure awaits in two exciting parts. The initial segment will take place in Faqa itself, where we will climb some tall dunes and ride some long ones. After we leave Faqa we will then navigate through Sabkha  and a patch of technical dunes to reach Little Sweihan. Our primary focus lies on the long range dunes in this drive.

Request every member that joins this drive to go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities.

MUST READ AND COMPLY

• Environmental Policy
• Offroad Flag Guideline
• Two Way Radio Guideline
• Off road Driving Etiquettes
• Emergency details for all off roaders
• Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities

DRIVE DETAILS

• Level:  Fewbie and above
• When: 30 September 2023, Saturday 
• Meeting time:  6:00 AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions)
• Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8ZrGgBmqMyuEgZT36
• Approximate finish time: 10:00 AM
• 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, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn.

RECOMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR:

• Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge (MANDATORY)
• Compressor (MANDATORY)
• Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY)
• Off-road flag (MANDATORY)
• Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles
• First-aid kit
• Fire extinguisher

LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE

• This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday
• If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list.
• RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list.
• Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions.
• Members without RSVP will be returned - Without any exceptions.
• 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 BELOW CALENDAR

[Looper]

@Kenneth Bollhardt, @Haneef Thayyil, @Ishak, @Lalaji, & @Sreenath G thank you all for signing up for the drive. I will be posting the convoy order later in the week. Request you not to be a No-Show and instead rest well and arrive before time so that we can start by dawn. In case you think there are going to be any issues withdraw from the drive.

The track I am going to try to do this week is the same one I did a few weeks ago with a FB+ drive. There will be some tall dunes at the start and thereafter we will explore some long-range dunes. I intended to keep the drive slightly faster paced and be prepared for the same.  Our objective will be to avoid technical patches on the way as much as possible and reach as quickly as possible to Little Sweihan. We will exit at the Innovation Center at or about 9:30. You may expect a slight delay. 

@Mohammad Sayawoush Azad you are still Newbie and request you to wait till you are promoted to FB to sign up for these drives. There will be an announcement on the forum by @Gaurav when you are promoted, and you will get to know as well as everyone else in the club. Consider joining Newbie Drives in the meanwhile as they are equally fun to drive. There is a Twilight drive on Friday. Further the morning drive at Faya is going to be a lot of fun. Suggest you check those out for this week and let's catch up next week.

[Looper]

@Ishak, @DTG, @Mohammad Sayawoush Azad, @Sreenath G, @Lalaji, @Kenneth Bollhardt, @Haneef Thayyil and @Cha

Good evening everyone. I hope you are all going to be well rested and ready for some action tomorrow morning. Request you to arrive a bit earlier than 6 am starting time so that we can be ready to move by the dawn.

We may expect temps to be at 25 degrees when we start and 37 by the time we end. 

Following is the convoy order:

We will be on CH2 

[msa]

Short video of today drive.

Thank you for the rescue today. It was a wonderful learning experience.  

 

 

[Looper]

Reminiscing on the Drive

The objective of the drive was to take the convoy to some large dunes at the south of the Faqa'a which were going to be fun place to play.

On 9/28/2023 at 9:16 AM, Looper said:

arrive before time so that we can start by dawn.

The intention was to start at dawn, approx. 6.15-ish and reach there quickly so that we can play in those dunes more than I did last time there. I started to record track at 6:25 and did not move till 6:33. 10 min into the drive when we tried to ride the first dune, @Mohammad Sayawoush Azad slipped off it and entered into a pocket and had his front passenger side tire had a pop-out. It was in a pocket so instead of trying to get it out we fixed the popout at the pocket itself so that he could move out of it. When we fixed the popout we also realized that the tire wasn't holding any pressure and leaking air. After it came out of the bowl, we replaced the tire and without any spare unfortunately it was the end of the drive for the mighty Patrol. 

At 7:50 the drive started again. You could see so many tall dunes but when you go near them, they are covered with vegetation. Anyways our aim was to reach the big bowls as soon as we could and, in the process, we navigate though some nice large dunes. On the way at about 8:30 we took a quick break and when we started again, we had another pop-out of the remaining Patrol at the same place. Well, we have already become a team expert in fixing popouts already, so it was dealt with in no time. 

The Sun was rising, temperatures were getting high, and we were nowhere near the dunes that we wanted to be. The tire pressure was increasing and without checking it led to a couple of refusals. When we started to move @Haneef Thayyil found the only pocket he could and promptly entered it. There was no place to do any self-recovery, so we winched him out of there. At this time, we learnt some sad news, but we could not delve into it there, so we kept moving. Finally at 10;10 am we reached where we wanted to come all along. A quick stuck by @Ishak led us to the bowl. But it was getting late, so we restricted the play time in this place and kept moving towards the exit. 

Finally, we finished the drive at 11 at Solar Park, but not without finding the misplaced convoy once again.

Remarks 

There were a couple of teachable moments during the drive. We do start with a briefing at every drive with these points, but it became evident why those seemingly unimportant items could become critical. One of those points is to keep an adequate distance between one's car and the car in front. If it is too far away, then one could lose track completely. Another aspect is radio communication, where we need to hear and respond adequately. 

I also want to touch up an important aspect of driving in the desert. One cannot zone out in the desert; it requires uninterrupted and complete focus. It is a conscious decision-making process where you must look at the car in front and try to replicate what it has done which requires you to make A LOT of decisions on how to tackle that patch till you go to the next. It is like solving a puzzle with your vehicle. That's the game if you ask me.

End Credits

@Cha I must thank you for all the effort you put into this drive. Fixing the popouts, helping with stucks and refusals, you had quite an engaging day. 

@Ishak Thank you once again for a brilliant second lead and thanks for helping with the pop-outs and tire change.  

Final Thoughts

Some days are more difficult than others and it is a part of life. For anyone who joined the next day, it was one of those better days.