Night Fewbie Plus Desert Drive - Awakening - Sweihan - Dubai - 25 April 2025

[Gautam Banka]

Dear Dr Sedam, I have to leave the drive today due to sudden engagement. Have a nice drive. Best Wishes.

[M.Seidam]

1 hour ago, Gautam Banka said:

Dear Dr Sedam, I have to leave the drive today due to sudden engagement. Have a nice drive. Best Wishes.

Dear Gautam 

no worries my friend . There will be always a night drive inshallah.😉

[_luke_]

Well that was an exciting adventure! 

We started off heading into the night, eastwards straight into some absolutely huge dunes. No warm ups allowed! 

 

The convoy was climbing, criss crossing, surfing through the big dunes. The excitement and adrenaline was leading to the back end of vehicles getting a little loose with fish tailing so we all relaxed in the bottom of yet another daunting large bowl for a pep talk from @M.Seidam about how we should tackle this amazing terrain.

 

The stand out thing for me was the lack of vegetation, and the doc's ability to pick amazing lines and switch crossings in the pitch black. The convoy had great faith committing to double switch's and huge climbs.

Towards the end of the drive we moved into east nahel where we hit some technical dunes.... And ventured into a BLACK area on my GPS called Freddie's follies, as I had seen many a stuck in that area and try to avoid during the day.

 

Again our convoy tackled everything with ease. Truely an excellent way to kick start the weekend. Great driving everyone and looking forward to seeing you in the sand again soon.

[M.Seidam]

All of us got an awakening moments climbing big dunes at Ramla Sweihan Grid. 
 

yesterday drive as Luke mentioned was a true adrenaline pumping straight from the beginning 🚀 and I have to say I expected more of hick ups than usual . However your attention and focus and passion helped me a lot synchronising the rhythm. very well done everyone one .

@Luke K P thank you a lot . Your presence in the back gave me a peace of mind that we will end the drive the same number and no one was missed as well as you operational clear command helping and guiding was outstanding.

@Glenn W you were as perfect as the situation dictated as a second lead . Pleasure having you in any drive .

@ChrisW thanks for anchoring coherently the middle of the convoy .

all the remaining great driving , great accompany and amazing night drive we shared all of us . And see next time soon inshallah. 
 

Cheers 

Seidam 

 

[ChrisW]

Thank you, @M.Seidam - that was a really impressive drive…finding lines that are sweeping, flowing and clean at the speed we made is truly impressive driving. I had great fun. 
 

Also some good news/bad news from my side…good news was I drove back to Al Ain with no issues, and sent the car on the truck to the garage this morning…bad news is I did manage to bend my front axle housing (a known weak spot for the Wrangler).
 

To share for everyone’s benefit:

- I think I took a slightly different line coming out of some soft sand, and crossed a ridge that was sharper than I expected. The nose of my car hit the ground somewhere around the bumper/bash plate, with the front tyres taking a lot of the force. 
- The initial impact winded me and took me by surprise. I turned the engine off, called on the radio that I had stopped, grabbed my head torch and radio, and hopped out to inspect the car. The car was fine to drive out. I was also fine to drive it after giving myself a few minutes to settle again!

- A few learning points from my side…firstly if you have a problem get on the radio, having Luke et al come to assist was greatly reassuring. Secondly having everything strapped down and secure paid off…nothing inside the cabin moved. Last point is - and this is especially for a night drive - far better to stop and think carefully about coming back to the line (and potentially ask for help in doing so) than to press on.

 

All in all it was a great night drive, and happily the car can always be fixed…potentially with some upgrades too! 😉😂

 

Edited April 26, 2025 by ChrisW

[M.Seidam]

@ChrisW happy to learn that you reached Alain driving with no issue , on the other hand I wish soon recovery for your wrangler . And yes day or night and especially night drives we are bound with limited visibility and following the lines is of at most important. … see you soon my friend . Take care 🙏

[Abhishek Chikara]

On 4/26/2025 at 9:53 PM, ChrisW said:

Thank you, @M.Seidam - that was a really impressive drive…finding lines that are sweeping, flowing and clean at the speed we made is truly impressive driving. I had great fun. 
 

Also some good news/bad news from my side…good news was I drove back to Al Ain with no issues, and sent the car on the truck to the garage this morning…bad news is I did manage to bend my front axle housing (a known weak spot for the Wrangler).
 

To share for everyone’s benefit:

- I think I took a slightly different line coming out of some soft sand, and crossed a ridge that was sharper than I expected. The nose of my car hit the ground somewhere around the bumper/bash plate, with the front tyres taking a lot of the force. 
- The initial impact winded me and took me by surprise. I turned the engine off, called on the radio that I had stopped, grabbed my head torch and radio, and hopped out to inspect the car. The car was fine to drive out. I was also fine to drive it after giving myself a few minutes to settle again!

- A few learning points from my side…firstly if you have a problem get on the radio, having Luke et al come to assist was greatly reassuring. Secondly having everything strapped down and secure paid off…nothing inside the cabin moved. Last point is - and this is especially for a night drive - far better to stop and think carefully about coming back to the line (and potentially ask for help in doing so) than to press on.

 

All in all it was a great night drive, and happily the car can always be fixed…potentially with some upgrades too! 😉😂

 

That hit did come out of where but it was good to see that you were safe. Sorry about the damage on the car and hope its sorted out quickly and we see you on the next one