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Thank you to all the active members of Carnity who have supported the drives by coming out in numbers and have shown the enthusiasm and the will to learn, As you would notice after this weeks drive that I am trying to pick the level slowly so that every one gets the confidence and the know how of how to tackle different dunes in different situations. I'm pleased to announce the upcoming drive on 10th Feb, Friday afternoon to let the members of Carnity experience the ultimate terrain in the UAE. This drive is going to be slightly more challenging than our previous 2 drives and will be an addition to your learning curve which so far has been impressive. The beauty of this area, the wide open dunes, and with the occasional sighting of wildlife like gazelles and oryx are all resons to set your pulses racing. The plan would be to meet up at 2:30 pm as per the below link and than head out to have some awesome fun through terrain that will leave you wanting more, and we will end it with a good spot to sit around and have a BBQ session with chats about the drive, general talk and share some jokes. When : 10 February 2017 at 2:30 pm Where : First Emarat Petrol station on Dubai - Al Ain Road after Outlet Mall. GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/KD4Lath3cB42 Level of drive: Newbie/Fewbie Plan: Drive followed by BBQ What to bring along: Stuff for BBQ like grill, charcoal, lighter fluid and BBQ meat or chicken, water, liquids, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time : 9 pm Note : Drive level can be changed if required to suit the level of the convoy.

There is only two things I like to add here after such a nice trip report and pictures by everyone: It was not only the driver's fault for the flip but also the extreme weather condition to be blamed for such an unfortunate scene. Sand storm made it difficult to read the dunes and rain made the sand harder from top to prevent the stuck, which resulted in a flip. By seeing the gopro footage (which is not very clear from a distance) I can see that driver wanted to follow the lead over a broad ridge and due to being too close he estimated that leader will take left or his car slided left, whereas leader has gone right. So to correct that immediate left to right on relatively soild sand (due to rain) car flipped on driver side. Secondly, unlike many other offroad clubs here in UAE we like to share and discuss these unfortunate situations to educate everyone to avoid same mistakes in future. Everyone should feel free to share and discuss these incidents in a healthy way to bring some valuable knowledge from which everyone can learn and enjoy this extreme sport carefully (no name and shame please).

After an exhausting trip 😁

Thank you team Carnity for the adventure! Indeed it was challenging but fun. Thanks for being patient and calm at all times no matter the situation (specially waiting for us). Unfortunately we won't be able to join on 10th Feb. But will look forward to another one after. Good luck!!

Let me start by saying, what a challenging day and well managed by everyone. This trip report will keep you glued as it has all the makings of a thriller not anything less than a roller coaster and a few lessons to be learned. It all started on a chill Friday morning with crisp morning breeze, a fantastic tea by Mujtaba to start our day. We were a bit delayed as we waited for a couple of cars to join in and we were on our way. As the drivers briefing was given and convoy numbers being handed out by Gaurav Bhai, we were off to a terrain I must have been to 100s of times, but with the rain and sand storms the face of the desert had been changed yet again. This route being used by a lot of desert safari vehicles and most of the desert clubs is normally filled with tracks all over the place and it is very difficult to find any virgin dunes. But this Friday was different, most of the tire tracks had been covered with the recent weather. As we drove on some hard sand due to the rains, but under that hard surface were soft patches which could be seen after a couple of vehicles had gone over a path, this was expected. With not a single stuck we reached the base of Pink Rocks and it was time to gas up and see what the drivers could manage along with their rides. I must say it was impressive and all vehicles made it to the top on the first go. On the top we were greeted by some hard blowing winds that could have easily flown any of us away. The group had managed well and it is heartening and encouraging to see that everybody was managing so well on their only second trip in similar terrain. We managed to get some shelter behind the Pink Rocks where we stopped for breakfast and some well-deserved drinks, thanks to Gaurav Bhai for the Aloo Paratha’s (potato embedded bread), Laban and some cold drinks, Ravi had got Poha, and Joseph had a bag full of sandwiches, with a little Carrot Halwa from my side to end the breakfast session. The best part of our trips so far has been to stop midway, relax while having some food and drinks and the discussion of the trip till that point. Somehow you can gauge the excitement of the trip as a whole with the great excitement of having learned and managed the terrain up to that point and gives us the energy to move on. As we drove past the Pink Rocks there were a few refusals and slowly we managed the refusals and got everyone up to a point from where we would be heading to our playground at the Big Red in Badayer. Half way through we were treated with some cold hard blowing winds and once again the tire tracks had been all covered as we slowly but surely made our way through. It was about that point that I was made aware that we had one of the cars flip and I rushed back to the scene. Gaurav Bhai being the sweep had a very clam head on his shoulders and handled the situation well asking the gentleman to switch off his engine and use the sunroof on his vehicle to make his way out. As we walked around and came to a decision on how to get the flipped beast on to its belly and find out the amount of damage and how to manage it from there. An agreement was made to tie the car to mine and I would try to flip it back to its belly, challenging as the conditions were, while trying to pull the vehicle I got myself stuck as it was some very soft patch. However as Gaurav bhai looked around he noticed that there was some hard ground, now Gaurav Bhai’s beast was connected to my vehicle which was connected to the affected vehicle. As Gaurav Bhai slowly but surely pulled me out, I could feel my car come out of the soft stuff and I could see the affected vehicle come back to its own 4 wheels from my rear view mirror. Part one of the recovery was done, as we looked around we thanked God Almighty as the damage was not all that bad as the car had just tipped over very slowly and it had not rolled, and the main thing to thank God all about was that the driver was unharmed. As we started the car we saw some white smoke, a bit concerned we knew that some of the oil had gone in to the plugs and this is what was burning up. We tried to reach and open the plugs to be able to get the oil out of the plugs area, however we soon realized that it would take some doing as to reach the plugs we would have to open a lot more than just the cover on the engine. So the next step was to get out of the desert in the shortest and least challenging route, with just about 4 kilometres to the tarmac we started and accomplished the mission within 20 minutes. As all others said good bye and left with smile, the affected vehicle, Gaurav Bhai and myself headed towards Madam to inflate our vehicles, get something to give us energy, we continued to the Police Station to help get the Police report and as we left I was glad to see this gentleman with enthusiasm saying, I am in for the next drive, the only thing is I would be hitching a ride if I don’t get my vehicle by then. Great to see such a wonderful spirit. As we tried to learn from him, his recollection of the events that caused the flip, this is what we found out: He was out of place in the convoy, he was assigned number 3 position in the convoy, at the time of the flip he was behind me, that means, he was number 2. I would like to emphasize to stick to the convoy discipline by keeping your number in the convoy and each position has a significance. The 3 most important positions in a convoy are the lead, second lead and Sweeper. The lead car trying to make a safe route through the unknown to suit the level of the convoy, the second lead has to be also experienced person as just in case the trip leader falls in to any difficulty the second lead can take over and avoid the obstacles that lie ahead, and the sweeper who not only keeps the convoy moving but also makes sure that all cars ahead of him are safe at all times. Second mistake was he came too close to me which did not leave him the space to manoeuvre his vehicle in case I got stuck, as I slowed down to make up my mind which way I was supposed to go he was very close to me and he did not have a chance to take evasive action. I would again like to emphasize the importance of distance in a convoy and the approach to any dune, the distance between any vehicle should be at least 3 to 4 vehicles at any time, while approaching a dune make sure the car ahead of you has climbed and gone over before you make your way, leave some gap between a dune and yourself to gain momentum before approaching a dune. Nobody is going to leave you behind, the sweeper will take care of that, he is the last car in the convoy. As he lost momentum when he tried to slow down as he came close to me, his car fish tailed to the left, since I went right, he tried to defy gravity by trying to force his car to the right when his car flipped. Once again the lesson to be re-taught here is do not fight gravity, it is better to be stuck than to be lying down on your side. As promised a trip full of excitement and thrills, but at the same time an incident to learn from. As Gaurav Bhai puts it, learn from others mistakes. Let’s continue to have our fun and avoid incidents by learning from this experience. The desert is an open terrain and one can easily get carried away after doing well for some time, but in this open environment it is more important to follow simple rules and convoy discipline to avoid such incidents. The weather could have been wet and sandy and cold, but the spirits have not been dampened, in fact spirits are high and enthusiasm for learning out in the desert is undying. All in all a challenging trip, well managed by all and thanks to everyone’s effort at every step of the way that reinforces the feeling of the building of a very strong team. Thanks to all who joined for being a part of one of the most challenging drives I have ever faced.

@Rahimdad Thanks, please count me in. Himanshu- 0556533648

@Digital Since this is a relaxed drive and due to Friday prayers the time has to suit most people to get there without any hassles. Plus with the sun setting nowadays after 6 pm gives us enough time to have an enjoyable drive without pushing too much. Anyone who wants to leave early can do so, as we will be having our BBQ close to the road and easy access to an exit. The drive time and level remains unchanged, I am still hoping we would have the pleasure of your company.

Trip plan looks great, I wud love to join , can we start early if possible...

Apologies for digging a bit old topic, however I would like to know from experts if it Is OK to drive fairy new 4WD in desert? I hv a 1 year old LC Prado VXR 4.0.. only 20k odd KMS, should I take it to desert now with friday fun drives with you guys

This is a very simple and cheap test you can do on your own car. All you need is a cheap multimeter at 40-50dhs. You can probably pick one up even cheaper online or at somewhere like dragon mart. I'm sure some of us have experienced a problem where you parked the car up in the morning and went back to it in the morning and it wouldn't start because of a flat battery. Why did this happen? It was working fine last night? You should first test the battery with a proper battery discharge tester. This is a bit more expensive than a multimeter and I appreciate that most people won't have or won't buy one. Next thing you need to check is the functionality of your alternator. You can do this with a multimeter which is one of the tools i recommend everyone should have. Set the alternator to VDC. DC volts. Measure the battery voltage across the positive and negative terminals with the engine stopped and ignition off. It should be 12 volts give or take half a volt either way. Next, start the car and measure the voltage again using the same method. Depending on the car, you should see a voltage of 13-14 volts. If you rev the engine and see a wild fluctuation the charging regulator could be fried but this is a whole other topic. Ok, now that you're sure that your battery and alternator are fine, let's find out why your battery is draining overnight. Disconnect the negative battery terminal and connect the negative wire on your multimeter to the negative terminal on the battery. Tape it on if you have to. Next connect the positive wire on your multimeter to the cars earth lead. Again, tape it on if you have to. Now turn your multimeter on. Set it to the highest possible amp setting and turn it down gradually until you get a reading on the screen. Once you see a reading, this is your battery drain. Pull the fuses out one by one and watch for the reading dropping to zero. When you pull a fuse and the reading drops, you know you have found the circuit where the problem is. Check your cars fuse diagram and see what the fuse corresponds to and you know where to start looking for the problem.

Hi. I shall be coming. Might be as a passenger this time. Srikumar 055 9567471

Yeah with guys like you it's obvious to have lots of fun keep up the good job👍👍

The only thing(s) I can add to @Barry's advice here is to check the manual for your car to see what will happen if you disconnect the battery. In some cases, the ECU (and/or) other controllers could lose vital memory or programming, which means that you have just made the problem worse. Also, bear in mind that a minimal current drain is normal. The radio and ECU's memories will draw about 30-50 milliamps. This is normal, and will not drain the battery overnight. If the current drain approaches 75-100 milliamps there is a cause for concern, but even this will not drain a healthy battery overnight. Current drains that cause a battery to run down overnight can be traced in the way @Barry described, but these current drains are also heavy enough to be traced by leaving the battery connected. Just figure out a way to attach the multi meter's probes to the battery terminals without disconnecting the terminals, which eliminates the risk of damaging the ECU.