Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Nahel with Luke, The Emerging Lead - Abu Dhabi - 29 Jun 2025

[Looper]

DRIVE PLAN

We're heading out on a desert drive to Nahel, a peaceful, traditional village about 80 km southeast of Abu Dhabi, nestled within the wider Al Ain Oasis region. Known for its rural charm, agricultural roots, and tranquil desert landscapes, Nahel offers a unique window into the UAE’s heritage. As we explore the surrounding dunes, we’ll enjoy sweeping desert views—and if the skies are clear, we may even catch a glimpse of Jebel Hafeet on the horizon.

We 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: 29 June 2028, Sunday
Meeting time:  5:45 AM - Sharp (Drive Starts at 6:00 AM)
Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/AT3czBctRodRrtHM9
Approximate finish time: 09:00 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
• 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 - 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 - 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 THE CALENDAR

 

[Emanuel]

Good evening,

The convoy order will see me leading the drive under @Looper's guidance and support. This is my first partial lead and I'm excited for the opportunity. Thereafter in the convoy, we have increasing levels of total number of drives and rank towards the back where we have a lot of talented drivers with the JP in Centre Forward and Benje in Sweep.

@Emanuel Lead

@Looper 2nd Lead

@Diego at #3

@Paul Eldho at # 4

@vinayak n at # 5

@J-P L at Centre Forward

@Johannes Roux at # 7

@Abhishek Chikara at # 8

@ChrisW at # 9

@Aser at Sweep

See you all tomorrow morning and get lots of rest.

Edited June 28, 2025 by Emanuel

[Emanuel]

We will use Carnity Channel 4, which is 446.081.

[Benje_Junior]

@Emanuel @Looper hey guys unfortunately I need to drop out, I was hoping to have more study done for my final exam on Monday apologies for the inconvenience 

[Gary F]

Hey @Looper unfortunately I need to drop out too

[Emanuel]

6 hours ago, Benje_Junior said:

@Emanuel @Looper hey guys unfortunately I need to drop out, I was hoping to have more study done for my final exam on Monday apologies for the inconvenience 

Good luck on the exam! See you next time. 

5 hours ago, Gary F said:

Hey @Looper unfortunately I need to drop out too

See you next time.

[vinayak n]

Thanks a ton for this one @Emanuel @Looper @J-P L@Aser.nice lines ...clean dunes ..was fun..just enjoyed the climbs & sideys..Nahel l is beautiful with no cris cross ..such a joy to drive  with this convoy thanks everyone!

[Emanuel]

Good evening,

Thank you for joining this drive, for your attentiveness, patience and feedback. All of which were very much appreciated.

This was my first time leading a convoy and it was an amazing experience once we hit the sand. You all drove extremely well and I'm fortunate to have had you on this inaugural lead drive. We had minor refusals and successful reattempts though these were few in numbers.

Everyone showed up on time, which is always appreciated especially now it's getting hot out there.  We started with a briefing and then entered the sands following a south and westerly route towards Sweihan though our planned exit point was Nahel Pumping Station. We started with some warm-up dunes and then crossed a usual track in order to get to the wonderful stretch of mostly clean dunes ranging in heights from medium to a few tall ones. We enjoyed some bowls, ridges and tall hill climbs and then played for a while in a technical patch before resuming our direction back to Sweihan. We then took a Sabkha route to a sand track leading us out to the Nehel Pumping Station.

Thank you @Looper for your guidance and support on this drive. Very much appreciated. Also, thanks to @J-P L for a strong Centre-Forward and to @Aser for Sweeping to make sure we were all together and accounted for. You had great communication with me regarding the status of the rear.

It was great to meet you @Diego and @Johannes Roux. Welcome to Carnity. You both drove really well today!

With much experience already, @vinayak n, @Abhishek Chikara, and @ChrisW allowed me to focus on my first lead. 

See you on my next partial lead drive next Saturday with @Frederic.

Have a great week everyone!

Here is our route and some stats from our drive today. We covered an amazing 45km in 3 hours which is pretty good for a FB drive. The elevation profile shows some decent amount of dune explorations and some really nice hill climbs.

Edited June 29, 2025 by Emanuel

[Emanuel]

Interesting fact: @Johannes Roux had the pleasure of driving with each of us (@Ishak @Luke K P and me) on our very first partial lead drives.

[Looper]

24 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

Interesting fact: @Johannes Roux had the pleasure of driving with each of us (@Ishak @Luke K P and me) on our very first partial lead drives.

@Ishak, @J-P L & I did 2 of 3