Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Margham - Dubai – 30 Dec 2023

[Gary F]

Plans changed @Davie Chase need to drop off at the airport for 11 , so this is probably a little tight .

[Davie Chase]

no Issue @Gary F see you soon and thanks for letting me know 

 

[Ahmed Farouk]

Hi guys, any update about the waitlist for this drive ?

[Davie Chase]

10 hours ago, Ahmed Farouk said:

Hi guys, any update about the waitlist for this drive ?

@Ahmed Farouk there is still time if anyone else drops out my friend, please keep an eye on this as you never know as peoples plans change.

[Davie Chase]

Dear Desert Wanderers @Frederic, @Rob S, @Abdullah N, @khlief @Renier Venter, @Shiju Raju, @SamBha, @Shinebabu, @Julien Recan, @Xavi Moyano, @Jitin, @Ben Lee, @Abdul Hannan, @Rahul6157,and  @Sandeep Nayar 

 Please see below convoy order for tomorrows drive, we will be using radio Ch 4 (446.081)

Looking forward to seeing you all bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning

[Rob S]

Swift inflate and made it back home by 12! Allowing me a quick turnaround before brunch! 

Thanks @Davie Chase for another great lead through the sands, and a great last drive of the year! Top job @Ben Lee for SL and thanks @Frederic for joining and securing the convoy in the middle. Shovelling (and brushing) when needed. 

@khlief and @Jitin only one refusal for each of you I think on your second drive. No shovels needed, well done to you both. 

Shovels required for @Shinebabu a couple of times but this gives greater opportunity to learn the car, and how to recover from stuck situations with only shoveling in key areas. Self recovery was made little difficult with the slightly damp sand in places but once your were able to master full left and full right steering with the right balance of throttle it became much easier. Well done and no gym required this weekend. Sometimes recovering yourself from stucks is more satisfying than having an easy drive!

For the guys at the back, some of the ruts in the track got quite deep in places. Always be careful not to carry to much speed and aggressive steering in this situations. Often it can result in pop-outs, though non today! 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and happy new year. 

 

[khlief]

Thanks everyone for the great drive ! And sorry for being late but stupid me forgot the flag and returned back to take it .

Thanks to our leader @Davie Chase and the support team @Rob S @Frederic @Ben Lee.

Thanks to you team i think i have improved in reading the sand state and applying the required throttle. 

Happy new year everyone !

[Davie Chase]

Dear Desert Wanderers, @Frederic, @Rob S, @Abdullah N, @khlief @Renier Venter, @Shiju Raju, @Shinebabu, @Julien Recan, @Xavi Moyano, @Jitin, @Ben Lee, & @Abdul HannanThank you one and all for making my last lead of 2023 such a memorable one.

We had it just about all today, starting off with a beautiful display of hot air ballooning floating overhead to great us as the sun rose and just before we set off. Next we got buzzed from above by several Para planes that probably came closer than I would have liked but they managed to glide just above our flag tops and did not land on top of us

Next we had several sightings of Arabian sand Gazelles coupled with some rather large camel caravans, luckily during this last sighting no one got the hump (including the farmer who was watching us with his beady eyes lol)

The terrain was heavily cross tracked and had some thickish vegetation in places, with dampish sand in the morning making way to soft top with a harder under belly later in the drive. The convoy managed all of this extremely well as we meandered through the desert, only encountering a couple of Minor stucks that were quickly dealt with by our superstar support team member @Rob S. who also played a blinder at sweep keeping me informed all the way around of what was happening at the rear of the convoy. Always pleasure and a comfort to have you in the convoy my friend.

My second Lead @Ben Lee did a Stirling job smoothing out the lines for the convoy to follow. great job and look forward to having you in S/L again in the near future.

Our C/F of the day and award for best use of a small hand brush with little to no affect during a stuck situation goes to my good friend @Frederic, thank you for bringing your own style to a recovery and giving us all a good laugh as usual. Truly an honor and a pleasure having you support one of my drives.

 

I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend, and I would like to wish you all a very happy new year.

Whatever you are doing this weekend, please do it safely so you are able to join more of our fun packed drives in 2024

HAPPY NEW YEAR one and all :):):)

 

[Abdul Hannan]

It was amazing drive , loved it