Morning Newbie Desert Drive - HALLOWEEN DRIVE: Searching for Ghost Town - Sharjah - 29 Oct 2023

[Ale Vallecchi]

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

MUST READ AND COMPLY

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

DRIVE DETAILS

Level:  Newbie and above (sorry, this time no Absolute Newbies)

When:  29 October 2023, Sunday

Meeting time:  7:30 AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions)

Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/1DjtotHo1b4nqJmd9

Action Plan: "An inland town in United Arab Emirates (UAE) lives as a ghost town, a place that has long been abandoned, long forgotten! An eerie silence now surrounds the entire place, which is locally called ‘Buried Village’. It used to be a tiny hamlet once upon a time. According to the locals nearby, it was once inhabited by the people of Al Kutbi tribe (they are among the three prominent tribes living in the vicinity of Al Madam). Swallowed by sand or spooked by ‘Djinn’? What actually happened here? Why the town that once flourished is now all covered in sand? No one is pretty sure about what went there. What better way to enjoy this Halloween weekend, than driving across a rather unforgiving and challenging stretch of desert, to end the drive at this legendary haunted village? The area, with tight dunes and bushy flats, preceded by the tall and daunting big dunes of Iftar Bowl and Super Bowl, will require to have already learned the basic off-roading skills, hence no Absolute Newbies will be allowed (only for this drive).

MANDATORY: bring your kids, family or friends, and most of all wear a mask, a costume, make-up, or whatever makes you feel in the mood for Halloween. No normally attired driver will be allowed🤪. The best "costumed" car will win a bounty of treats!!

Approximate finish time: 11:30 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.

Recommended off-road gears: Walkie-talkie radio and off-road flag (MANDATORY), plus tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit and fire extinguisher.

LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE

• This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM.
• 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 back - Without any exceptions.
• Members without RSVP will be returned back - 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 THE CALENDAR

• This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 1 PM.
• 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 back - Without any exceptions.
• Members without RSVP will be returned back - 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 THE CALENDAR 

 

[DP1011]

Hii @Lea Degner Welcome to carnity. 

Please note this particular drive is restricted for Absolute newbies and is only for Newbie and above level and since you are new/ first timer to the club, you can join only a Newbie drive ( which Includes Absolute Newbies) - Unless You have other prior offroading experience in sand with deflated tyres,  with any other club - Which you can declare  with details here and @Ale Vallecchi , being the lead can then decide accordingly. 

If Not, then for this weekend you may want to join the other Newbie drive ( which is Open for Absolute Newbies too) 

 

(Also please note,  you will be waitlisted for this above if you choose to RSVP,  since all the drives are posted on Monday 7pm, and depending on total convoy count and lead's decision the waited listed candidates gets confirmed or if someone drops from confirmed list the next person moves up, a person with zero drives gets preference over someone already having another confirmed drive)

Please have a look at the following link to assist you navigate the structure. Please also reach out if you need more assistance. 

https://carnity.com/forums/topic/16479-off-road-club-grading-structure-v30/

See you sooon in one of the drives!:)

[Ale Vallecchi]

Dear @Lea Degner. Thanks a lot for joining the drive. As @DP1011 mentioned, this particular Newbie drive is not open to Absolute Newbies. This is a category we have created at Carnity to identify any driver who is having her/his first drive with the Club. In the case of an AN joining we would take great care to go through a thorough briefing of what we recommend and expect drivers to do and behave when joining one of our convoys. A drive including AN members, will be designed to visit areas that do not present excessively complex challenges, on terrains that can be more easily tackled by all drivers.

The reason why this drive is only open to members who have already had such first Absolute Newbie experience is that the terrain where we plan to go is very challenging, and we do not wish to face situations that may create safety issues to a very inexperienced driver. 

If you have had prior off-road driving experiences with other Clubs, I kindly ask you to please update me here, specifying the club or circumstances of your previous drives, the number of drives you have already had (off-roading on sand, not mixed terrain), and the car you had been driving with. 

Looking forward to hearing from you. Have a nice day.

[Soufiane]

Hi @Ale Vallecchi,
Last Sunday I had my first drive with Frederic "Scenic Trail". Am I ok to join this Drive or not yet ?
If not, how long do we stay in AN level before getting to Newbie ? Thanks a lot. 
Soufiane

[Ale Vallecchi]

5 hours ago, Soufiane said:

Hi @Ale Vallecchi,
Last Sunday I had my first drive with Frederic "Scenic Trail". Am I ok to join this Drive or not yet ?
If not, how long do we stay in AN level before getting to Newbie ? Thanks a lot. 
Soufiane

Hello @Soufiane. Thanks for asking. Having done your AN drive you are already a Newbie ranked member. The only thing I'd like you to consider in evaluating your joining this drive is if you also had any previous driveing experience, that is if you feel comfortable enough facing relatively tough terrains: possible higher climbs, soft sand bowls and tight, close technical dunes. Thanks for considering. 

[Ale Vallecchi]

On 10/24/2023 at 10:03 AM, Ale Vallecchi said:

Dear @Lea Degner. Thanks a lot for joining the drive. As @DP1011 mentioned, this particular Newbie drive is not open to Absolute Newbies. This is a category we have created at Carnity to identify any driver who is having her/his first drive with the Club. In the case of an AN joining we would take great care to go through a thorough briefing of what we recommend and expect drivers to do and behave when joining one of our convoys. A drive including AN members, will be designed to visit areas that do not present excessively complex challenges, on terrains that can be more easily tackled by all drivers.

The reason why this drive is only open to members who have already had such first Absolute Newbie experience is that the terrain where we plan to go is very challenging, and we do not wish to face situations that may create safety issues to a very inexperienced driver. 

If you have had prior off-road driving experiences with other Clubs, I kindly ask you to please update me here, specifying the club or circumstances of your previous drives, the number of drives you have already had (off-roading on sand, not mixed terrain), and the car you had been driving with. 

Looking forward to hearing from you. Have a nice day.

Hello @Lea Degner. I hope all is well. Did you have the chance to see my post above? Looking forward to hearing from you. 

[Soufiane]

On 10/24/2023 at 11:41 AM, Ale Vallecchi said:

Hello @Soufiane. Thanks for asking. Having done your AN drive you are already a Newbie ranked member. The only thing I'd like you to consider in evaluating your joining this drive is if you also had any previous driveing experience, that is if you feel comfortable enough facing relatively tough terrains: possible higher climbs, soft sand bowls and tight, close technical dunes. Thanks for considering. 

Hi @Ale Vallecchi, no I haven't had any big noticeable experience prior to my AN drive last Sunday with @Frederic (Fred do you have any opinion here?). I mean never on full soft sand terrain, it has always been on mixed terrains. I don't mind giving it a try but of course I trust your guidelines. My goal is to learn on good basis. If this drive is not possible/recommendable for me, my question would be about the type of drive I should go to in the meantime ? only AN or are there any other Newbie drive that will be easier than this one ? Thanks a lot !

[DP1011]

Hi @Soufiane - You can join any drive which is Newbie, there is one which is happening this weekend and I see you are already WL for that.
 

By all means you can join @Ale Vallecchi 's drive also however the recommendation is you do a Normal Newbie drive ( the one previously done was scenic and didnot really offer you the real challenges/feel of deflated desert drive all through ( except at few times) - For any other NB drive there wont be any restriction however this one which Ale is doing is slightly levelled up and would be good for everyone to have done one proper offroading drive  prior to this. 
 

If your WL gets accepted on 28th Drive, You can do this one then for sure, depending on the slot availability:)

 

Trust this helps - Again its not a restriction for you on this drive but a recommendation from drive lead. 

 

 

[Frederic]

12 minutes ago, Soufiane said:

Hi @Ale Vallecchi, no I haven't had any big noticeable experience prior to my AN drive last Sunday with @Frederic (Fred do you have any opinion here?). I mean never on full soft sand terrain, it has always been on mixed terrains. I don't mind giving it a try but of course I trust your guidelines. My goal is to learn on good basis. If this drive is not possible/recommendable for me, my question would be about the type of drive I should go to in the meantime ? only AN or are there any other Newbie drive that will be easier than this one ? Thanks a lot !

@Soufianeyou did great on the scenic drive, and there were a few technical dunes involved where you needed to precisely point the 4x4 otherwise you would ended in a pocket. You will be fine to join this drive.

[Ale Vallecchi]

1 hour ago, Frederic said:

@Soufianeyou did great on the scenic drive, and there were a few technical dunes involved where you needed to precisely point the 4x4 otherwise you would ended in a pocket. You will be fine to join this drive.

Dear @Soufiane, on the basis of @Frederic's information and advise, feel free to join the drive. You will be briefed, along with the whole convoy, in details and to a great extent before starting the drive, so you'll have fresh info at your disposal to manage the terrain. See you on Sunday (I will add you to the drive).