Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Al Fayah - Abu Dhabi - 13 Jan 2024

[Shaun J]

Thanks @Davie Chase for organising, see you all in the morning 

[SamBha]

5 hours ago, Soufiane said:

Good day everyone,

1. yes I do confirm joining the drive tomorrow inshallah.

2. is there anyone who would like to camp on the same starting point tonight ? I will there and will be happy to not be alone hihi 

thank you !

 

Down for this but only given @Davie Chase lets me in as I’m on the waitlist. 😊

[Davie Chase]

@SamBha unfortunately I only have one support team member on the drive so I will have to keep this one to the 12 cars we had on RSVP 

I hipe to see you on the next one very soon though 

[Jasim Bo Falah]

On 1/12/2024 at 1:24 PM, Davie Chase said:

Dear Desert Wanders @Sunil Mathew, @Abdullah N, @Prithvi Raj, @Vijay Cowlagi, @Damian, @Soufiane, @Nizar Shawwa, @Abdul Hannan, @Jassislahi, @Menon, @Hani Howeedy, @Andrew John Melvill,and @Shaun J the convoy order for tomorrows drive will be as below. We will be using Ch4 (446.081) for radio comms. 

I am looking forward to seeing you all bright eyed bushy tailed, deflated and flags up at 07:00 tomorrow morning.

That was a great drive at Al Faya and were able to connect with some of you guys. 

Thanks a ton @Davie Chase @Sunil Mathew and the team along with other members. 
 

@Gaurav @Davie Chase Looking forward for more Abudhabi drives in upcoming weeks. Thank you 

[Davie Chase]

Dear Desert Wanders @Sunil Mathew, @Abdullah N, @Prithvi Raj, @Vijay Cowlagi, @Damian, @Soufiane, @Nizar Shawwa, @Abdul Hannan, @Jassislahi, @Menon, @Hani Howeedy, @Andrew John Melvill, @Rob S and @Shaun J thank you all for being on time this morning and ready and eager to drive in the beautiful Al Fayah desert.

you guys all drove amazingly well through some difficult soft sand,I hope everyone had as much fun and enjoyed the drive as much as I did.

Great S/L from @Soufiane thank you for supporting the drive in this critical position. It made the whole drive go way more smoothly.

@Sunil Mathew thank you for the excellent support in the CF role, having you there mastering and controlling the middle of the convoy was critical to us getting in and out safely whilst also dealing with the several refusals and stucks that we had.

@Rob S thanks for showing up at the last minute to support the drive we would have struggled without you there mate, so thanks again always a comfort to have someone with your knowledge and skill in the sweep position,

 

I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend and I hope to see you all on one of my drives in the near future 

[Prithvi Raj]

22 minutes ago, Davie Chase said:

Dear Desert Wanders @Sunil Mathew, @Abdullah N, @Prithvi Raj, @Vijay Cowlagi, @Damian, @Soufiane, @Nizar Shawwa, @Abdul Hannan, @Jassislahi, @Menon, @Hani Howeedy, @Andrew John Melvill, @Rob S and @Shaun J thank you all for being on time this morning and ready and eager to drive in the beautiful Al Fayah desert.

you guys all drove amazingly well through some difficult soft sand,I hope everyone had as much fun and enjoyed the drive as much as I did.

Great S/L from @Soufiane thank you for supporting the drive in this critical position. It made the whole drive go way more smoothly.

@Sunil Mathew thank you for the excellent support in the CF role, having you there mastering and controlling the middle of the convoy was critical to us getting in and out safely whilst also dealing with the several refusals and stucks that we had.

@Rob S thanks for showing up at the last minute to support the drive we would have struggled without you there mate, so thanks again always a comfort to have someone with your knowledge and skill in the sweep position,

 

I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend and I hope to see you all on one of my drives in the near future 

Thanks all guys for this wonderful experience.. 

[Shaun J]

Thanks Davie, Sunil and Rob. Fantastic drive, looking forward to the next one. 

[Hani Howeedy]

Really great experience and awesome drive. Thank you @Davie Chase @Sunil Mathew @Rob S for the route selected, learning experience and all the heavy lifting done. 
looking forward for the next one. 

[Sunil Mathew]

Thanks @Davie Chase for choosing Al Fayah for yesterdays  drive and giving an opportunity to our newbie members to experience the wonderful terrain ... i am sure all of them have taken home loads of learning and pointers to implement or experiment with, in their next drives. We had some recoveries, but these are part of the learning and to an extent , fun too  ... important thing is to stay calm, not to panic , not to feel bad , not to think that you are holding the convoy etc. 

Newbie drives are for getting stuck and learning about your cars, how they handle, and to get  the balance between the 2 main inputs you are giving  - steering and throttle

Now, just penning down what i observed about our newbie friends driving within my field of view 

  @Andrew John Melvill  @Menon  @Hani Howeedy- drove really well and learned along the way. You have heavy cars which call for a bit more of momentum  on climbs , so that your front and rear both cross over together. If you let go of gas when your front crosses over, your rear is going to come down , ending up in what we call fishtailing. 

Whoever had refusals, got it right on your second attempts, which means that you know what to do, but instinctively it doesnt come to you on your first attempt. This is something which comes by practice. So keep driving and this will easily be second nature to you before you even know.

@Jasim Bo Falah - as we discussed, your car is more than capable of conquering the desert. Dont be shy on the gas when it is required. To know "when" its required, we need practise, so keep driving and master the skills. Since you have 2 more cars - FJ, Tundra both being more powerful than the pathfinder, i suggest you stick to the pathfinder and get the hang of it , and once you confidently negotiate sideslopes, dune crossings etc , then only think of changing cars.

@Shaun J - driving behind me did a wonderful job with clear radio comms whenever i was out of convoy order to attend to a situation and clarifying what he has to do, rather than assuming something. Appreciate your presence of mind and adherence to convoy discipline.

@Prithvi Raj - on his maiden drive, did really well for a fresher. It was a relief to learn that your bumper was intact after that air time you had on the straight crossing. Also, appreciate you being calm during the long recovery involved with your car in the soft patch. Your car finally made when @Rob S was behind the wheels, so you must have realised now that its not the car , but the driver which is mission critical ! Hope you hade lot of learning from the episode, and see you soon , on your upward learning curve.

@Nizar Shawwa   @Damian @Abdul Hannan @Abdullah N  @Vijay Cowlagiall driving behind me, and mostly in silence did a great job in keeping up with the convoy. 

@Soufiane - in 2nd lead, i couldnt get much of a glimpse, but looks like you did great , reading @Davie Chase 's report !!

Finally @Rob S - thanks for joining last minute and relieving me of the pressure i felt when i saw a 12 car NB convoy with only me in support  . Your "pajero" skills are amazing !!! and thanks for helping me out when i ran out of ideas  

Some photos uploaded in the drive gallery 

https://carnity.com/gallery/category/1928-newbie-al-fayah-abu-dhabi-13-jan-2024/

 @Hani Howeedy and others not familiar with the website -  we have photo galleries for each drive, and the link above will take you to the one for our drive yesterday. Please upload photos here, and lets hoard up all the good memories here !!!

 

Edited January 14 by Sunil Mathew

[Andrew John Melvill]

23 hours ago, Sunil Mathew said:

Thanks @Davie Chase for choosing Al Fayah for yesterdays  drive and giving an opportunity to our newbie members to experience the wonderful terrain ... i am sure all of them have taken home loads of learning and pointers to implement or experiment with, in their next drives. We had some recoveries, but these are part of the learning and to an extent , fun too  ... important thing is to stay calm, not to panic , not to feel bad , not to think that you are holding the convoy etc. 

Newbie drives are for getting stuck and learning about your cars, how they handle, and to get  the balance between the 2 main inputs you are giving  - steering and throttle

Now, just penning down what i observed about our newbie friends driving within my field of view 

  @Andrew John Melvill  @Menon  @Hani Howeedy- drove really well and learned along the way. You have heavy cars which call for a bit more of momentum  on climbs , so that your front and rear both cross over together. If you let go of gas when your front crosses over, your rear is going to come down , ending up in what we call fishtailing. 

Whoever had refusals, got it right on your second attempts, which means that you know what to do, but instinctively it doesnt come to you on your first attempt. This is something which comes by practice. So keep driving and this will easily be second nature to you before you even know.

@Jasim Bo Falah - as we discussed, your car is more than capable of conquering the desert. Dont be shy on the gas when it is required. To know "when" its required, we need practise, so keep driving and master the skills. Since you have 2 more cars - FJ, Tundra both being more powerful than the pathfinder, i suggest you stick to the pathfinder and get the hang of it , and once you confidently negotiate sideslopes, dune crossings etc , then only think of changing cars.

@Shaun J - driving behind me did a wonderful job with clear radio comms whenever i was out of convoy order to attend to a situation and clarifying what he has to do, rather than assuming something. Appreciate your presence of mind and adherence to convoy discipline.

@Prithvi Raj - on his maiden drive, did really well for a fresher. It was a relief to learn that your bumper was intact after that air time you had on the straight crossing. Also, appreciate you being calm during the long recovery involved with your car in the soft patch. Your car finally made when @Rob S was behind the wheels, so you must have realised now that its not the car , but the driver which is mission critical ! Hope you hade lot of learning from the episode, and see you soon , on your upward learning curve.

@Nizar Shawwa   @Damian @Abdul Hannan @Abdullah N  @Vijay Cowlagiall driving behind me, and mostly in silence did a great job in keeping up with the convoy. 

@Soufiane - in 2nd lead, i couldnt get much of a glimpse, but looks like you did great , reading @Davie Chase 's report !!

Finally @Rob S - thanks for joining last minute and relieving me of the pressure i felt when i saw a 12 car NB convoy with only me in support  . Your "pajero" skills are amazing !!! and thanks for helping me out when i ran out of ideas  

Some photos uploaded in the drive gallery 

https://carnity.com/gallery/category/1928-newbie-al-fayah-abu-dhabi-13-jan-2024/

 @Hani Howeedy and others not familiar with the website -  we have photo galleries for each drive, and the link above will take you to the one for our drive yesterday. Please upload photos here, and lets hoard up all the good memories here !!!

 

Thanks @Sunil Mathew it was great having you behind me to give direction for my recoveries! I learned so much on this drive about momentum and throttle use, need to be a little bit more aggressive in the situations where I needed two attempts. 

Thanks to everyone in the convoy for a great drive in the soft sand.

Andrew