Leaderboard

DRIVE REPORT On my way to Second December Cafeteria I came across hundreds of cars that were parked next to the road, awaiting the predicted rain showers. As soon as the rains set in, it was funny to see all of them running outside their cars, splashing in the water and enjoying the rain. For me, coming from a country where it rains a lot more I must say it made me laugh quite hard while I was passing them by. Upon arrival, where I found @Febin Frederic also had an itch to hit the sand early, we saw the cafeteria area already was a muddy pool, with locals arriving with buggy's and Landcruisers and Batrols hitting the sand and revving without deflating. We quickly set out by crossing the road and heading towards direction Faya. The Suwaydan area we went into is mostly left behind by other clubs because the terrain is more technical and quite bushy, with even a forest in the middle of it (we will come to that later). I have driven in that area before and although it is not the most exciting area, it does offer scenic views and for this drive I wanted to let the convoy digest some technical areas as it's important to learn them, and also the scenic views on this cloudy afternoon is something we should enjoy as this is super rare in UAE. We had a strong convoy that day, and no-one really struggled, and even @Tero Vallas who was a little bit stuck in the mud at the back of the convoy managed to get himself out eventually by deflating a bit more and giving the mighty Prado a good kickin' Well done ! We arrived at Sharjah Forest (don't laugh this is how I named that waypoint in my gps), and parked the cars next to each other and made some shots, which will be the perfect Insta and FB material I hope). It was quickly getting more dark, even earlier as expected maybe due to the cloudy weather, so that meant we had pick up the pace and head over to Faya, where I was expecting to see hundreds of cars but fortunately the area was quite calm and all of us had our chance to climb from our so-called cheat route. Attacking from the front was simply impossible with all the muddy cross tracks, and I was sure we were all able to reach the top via that cheat route. As the dark set in, I was contemplating if we would play around in the Faya a little bit more, but it was getting quite dark and felt it was the right time to head out towards the exit as it had been a lovely day and sometimes my gut feeling tells me not to jinx it. We inflated at the dune buggy shops and I hope everyone appreciated the different type of drive this was today. We will just call it "Insta-Drive" from now The whole convoy was super-cooperative, helpful, and all of you drove really well. @Veedooshee who lost a bit of the inside of her Pajero eventually found it back thanks to @Mels Wolf, and this event amongst others showed how much we try to look after each other, which is THE main reason why I gladly keep doing these drives. It is all about the community spirit, helping out each other, and having a good day in the sand. @Jun Zamora which I have not seen a while, has become a confident off-roader that easily digests whatever terrain is being thrown at him. Fantastic growth in a short time ! @Christian Andras as my second lead, and with the family safely strapped in (LOL), drove also very confident and did not break a sweat. Maybe it helped that we were driving in Tawi Swedan 😅 @Biju Abdul gave us the perfect excuse to have a difflock on board and used it on the PERFECT moment. Super ! @Edgar you drove really well today, and you went on Faya like you drove on Sheikh Zayed. Mighty impressive ! @David Ortells it was nice meeting your wife, and it will be great to see her joining the club too very soon ! @Yousef Alimadadi and friends, hope you had a good time ! @Jeepie as always the calm supportive sweep, a pleasure to have you in the convoy. Absolutely well done, and a big thanks also to @Febin Frederic for helping out with the recoveries. See you guys soon in the sand !

Some videos for yesterday drive to pink rock morning hope you enjoy https://youtu.be/syva1DqO5js https://youtu.be/zNoDG9gz_cM https://youtu.be/8jqIEY2sbrA

Everyone please try to understand that if you cannot follow the COVID precautions, PLEASE DO NOT JOIN ANY DRIVES. NO MATTER You have seen thousands are partying in the desert You have seen people without mask everywhere You don't wear mask at work or neighborhood BUT, everyone supposed to wear a face mask at Carnity Off-road drives without any exceptions. If your passenger gets out without a face mask, it's your responsibility and you will be banned from Carnity off-road club. When it comes to COVID precaution, we are just following the law of land without any excuses or leniency to safeguard everyone. @Wael Mounier @Khaled Abdalla and @Dagdag Sofiane you have been given verbal warning and next time if any trip lead spot you or your passenger out of the car without a face mask, you will be banned from Carnity off-road club. PS. Including while at deflation and inflation points.

The first showers got us into the muddy drive... As you rightly mentioned @Frederic, it was really weird to find so many people around in that area, some with family whilst the rest are hitting the dunes like totally crazy to watch.. It was definitely a different terrain, could say a bit forgiving however for me initially i was still trying to understand how exactly to tackle them and how much momentum will be required or gas to give when needed. And that's when i got crested thinking that i had enough momentum as it seems harder sand that usual..but desert keeps teaching us..Thank to you @Mels Wolf for guiding me there and to Freddie for that quick tug.. Moving on, it was great to see how the FJ cruiser @Biju Abdul uses the diff lock to smoothly get out of a steep kind of stuck and then makes me think well which one, the blue Rubicon @Jeandre Bezuidenhout or FJ 🤣.. The Suwaydan part of the drive was absolutely fantastic with the great pace and enjoying the scenic route. And it had its own technicalities as Freddie mentioned "he didn't say easy😆". I have been driving mostly in the summer but i can feel winter might have its own challenges as well but with the cooler breeze..☺️ We then drove towards Faya where i actually bumped on my left tyre 😒 since it was dark and i was unable to judge the steepness on the left and i lost the inner cover part above the wheel. I did manage to go all the way uphill in one go 👍🤪 where we checked and i found out that the part was missing😔. The tyre was also starting to loose pressure and it got me anxious. Finally on the way down @Mels Wolf went to that same spot to find that part and i highly appreciate this kind gesture brother...desert will definitely miss you.. thank you.. and also for keeping a check on my tyres while i was driving really slow towards the deflation point.. All ends well, as after inflating tyre and reaching home, the tyre appears to be good..though some fixes to be done. Thank you everyone for a great drive and special thanks to @Jeepie and @Febin Frederic. Cheers to our carnity spirit 🥰 TOTALLY! Few drives where i was there and we lost parts we found them actually ! 👍

Being too humble to mention it, @Frederic was the perfect leader, taking “one for the team” and sacrificing parts of his car in the process, to find the perfect route 😀 It seems however the motto of this bunch is “we leave no one behind, nor do we leave any (car)parts behind”😂😂😂

Wow @Mohamed Seidam. Being part of a helpful community. Not only you managed the Centre Forward position during the drove but also helping out sharing videos of great recoveries. These are really helpful videos, this is what is required contribution within a community. Can I please request you to start a new thread with everybody should know: The greatest of recoveries and posting these videos there. I would like everybody to contribute with such videos so that we can satisfy the curiosity of newbie members who are unable to witness these first hand. Very good contribution, very proud to see such contributing members in our close knit community.

Personally, I like to start with potatoes. Nobody ever asks why you're buying potatoes in bulk. 😁

Drive report I had decided on Thursday to change our meeting time from 5 to 5:15 because we had to cross a few technical dunes at the beginning and I wasn’t sure if all drivers would be confortable with night driving. As a result, the daylight was already on his way when we finished deflating and briefing. We started heading South, from the gazel farm to the long range dunes. @Foxtrot Oscar was my second lead and as always she did an amazing job. We had @Jorge Stepniak Felippe in sweep and @Shamil, who joined as a passenger with his friend @Roshan Abraham, was of great help from the back of the convoy. Thanks to all our fewbie plus drivers, @Mehmet Volga, @Jolly Abraham, @Anish S, @Roshan Abraham and @Jorge Stepniak Felippe who managed so well that we have been able to keep a good pace most of the time on this quite demanding terrain, with only a few refusals and stucks (nothing major though, just the minimum due to Faqaa) and one pop out (Roshan) close to the exit from Faqaa side. This didn’t prevent us to pay a short visit to our beloved « Little Sweihan » just before we exit to the track leading to Solar Park. Breathtaking views (especially the ghaf little forest midway), wild life (gazels, oryx), fair amount of adrenaline... Can't wait for our next drive in Faqaa...

Yes @Frederic it was a lovely drive “Insta-drive” I really enjoyed the technical dunes track we did, “ car in low pace but our brain in fast pace “ 😀 The Diff lock recovery boosted my already High pride of owning a FJ 😎😁 Overall it was a great drive with our captain @Frederic and a lovely convoy.

DUBAI CROSSING - THE LONGEST DRIVE It was designed to be a long drive, and long it was. A streamlined convoy of 4, with @Kalahari starting as Second Lead, with @J J following (ready to take up second place throughout the drive) and @Javier M sweeping, started at 5:11, passed the camel track (and the training camels), followed the pylons until the entry point, and after a short technical area broke free into the long range dunes of Al Lisaili, at the break of dawn. We started calmly, warming up for the first half hour, then picked up the pace, targeting the longer and more open dunes of the southern part of Lisaili (avoiding the tighter technical area to its west), before heading back toward Solar Park, which we reached after 1 and half hour (and one stuck in a soft bowl, resolved by Javier's precious winch). From there we proceeded crossing the tarmac and the bike track, reached the heart of Qudra, then turned south toward the Bab al Shams area, and its white sand dunes, dotted with clay formations at their bottom. Upon reaching the exit track, the convoy's thirst for driving had not been quenched, yet, so that it didn't take much convincing to agree to the drive's extension, and gingerly headed back north-east, toward Qudra Lakes' exit. With only one stuck, and perhaps a couple of refusals, we completed the crossing by 9:20am, after 4:09 hrs of driving, covering 92.1Km, at an average speed of 22Km/h (27 Km/h while moving). Well done to all the drivers. See you soon somewhere on the sand.

TRIP REPORT It was a day of side slopping in the massive play areas that Mahafiz can offer. As I reached the meeting point at 4:45 AM, there were already 4 cars getting ready for the day's action with the remaining cars trickling in by 5:00 AM. After the briefing, we headed our way into the desert under the guidance of our headlights till the break of dawn. The terrain of Mahafiz is not what it used to be about 8 months ago. With all the cloud seeding in April and May the desert has turned into a Jungle with bushes and plants at every step of the way. This results in a more bouncier ride compared to nearby Tawi Nazwa. But through this bumpy terrain you arrive at some amazing play areas that only Mahafiz can offer. @Vineeth John Joseph was performing the duties of second lead for the first time, and he almost nailed it by maintaining adequate distance and rerouting the convoy as needed. It was good to see @Nitin Mohan back after a long time, and his initial hesitation to push his Prado had all but disappeared as the drive progressed. Though initially doubtful on whether to attempt the side slopping seeing the enthusiasm of the entire group he decided to join the party. @Ashok chaturvedi impressed with his Pajero and he was a very good sport to try his hand at side slopes in the play area. And ofcourse once he got the taste of it he along with Nitin were queuing up to take turns at the play area. Well done guys. @RaYan E though you felt your car was a bit under powered today, but for me you provided the real highlight of the day. Your self recovery by listening to the instructions and crawling out of that position was truly beautiful. Offroading offers lots of challenges with hill climbs being a small portion of it and as you gain experience you would realize that having the most powerful car is not everything. @Ajiesh George Kannankara your Patrol is not an easy beast to tame, but you manage it well. Keep practicing and you will start to enjoy the black beast even more. The wrangler boys @Javier Lucero @Ilya Golubinsky @Edgar @Miguel Ibarbia @Pancho enjoyed the play area the most as they were able to stretch their legs. Some impressive climbs with Javier, Ilya, Edgar and Pancho crossing over the play area dune and going to the other side. Well done guys. Finally, a big thanks to both @Tbone and @Janarthan for helping out in recoveries and for getting the convoy moving as smooth as possible. Hope you guys enjoyed. See you next weekend on the sand.

Thank you so much @Frederic, it was a lovely day and as usual we enjoyed a lot.😊😊

Hi @Sajit Modiyil don’t worry this is the art of it we fall to rise up again and stronger than ever 😉

Hi @Mohamed Seidam Third video is super, the rope recovery one.🤣🤣 Hope I don’t get stuck in the next drive.

Thanks @wrangled and all. It was a bit daunting driving in the dark for the first time but a lot of fun - also loved the pace. Look forward to more drives !.

Thank you @Srikumar and them of Marshall. Indeed it was a good day and full of fun. Till next time

Good evening Everyone Today early morning and while heading toward our meeting “ deflation “ point I was asking my self how am I going to enjoy being a CF ( center forward ) effectively and responsibly. It turned out that little pressure makes me work out It safely. It was an honor ! More than a skill I am making my best to develop and sharpen in the setting of off road drive “ COMMUNICATION “ . As the day progressed the convoy was going smooth and nice even with couple of stops either for refusals, stuck or waiting to connect the front with the rear of our 15 vehicle blessed convoy rounding the pink rock. @Frederic and @Rahimdad Thank you for the help and support during this amazing trip.and to all of you guys each by his name thank you for making this day so wonderful and at ease al along. I am really honored to drive with all of you . Take care and looking forward to join you once more in another adventurous ride. Cheers and drive safe 🌷🚙 P.S : I will post later few videos and pictures

Thank you everybody for the drive and fun...Today, i was looking forward to learn and practise recovery with tow rope, however i ended up using it on myself 🤣. It was a different and very technical terrain with lots of challenges that we coped well with, there was lots of opportunities to enhance our skills. It was nice to see @Shamil after so long. Thank you @Emmanuel for your amazing leadership and @Shamil @Roshan Abraham for your assistance.

Driving in dark was good fun!

@Gauravgreat drive yesterday !! Thanks for helping me with the hot oil sign recovery as well as the education towards EBS & traction display. I will be checking on the same before my next drive which will be surly coming Friday . All co-drivers where great , happy to see people willing to help each other at difficult situation through out the drive . I would recommend if we could start a bit early for the evening drive so that we reach our final destination safe and sound . Thank you richard for helping out as well . I liked your saying “the dessert gods have taken it toll “and sorry for your flag which was lost in the dessert . see you soon guys and keep safe driving !!!❤️❤️

@Jeandre Bezuidenhout 👌🏼

I was a bit ‘concerned’ with an evening drive but wanted to try and see what it is like. The drive to the meeting point was fairly eventful compared to morning drives where most things were dark and hardly any traffic. Traffic was quite busy, lots of 4WD on the road, very windy with lots of sand on the road. I got a few drops of ‘rain’ on my windshield. The weather was great when I arrived at the meeting point, notwithstanding that it is still summer. My first evening drive experience was great especially during the transition period shortly before the sun set. The desert was beautiful at that time of the day. Great guidance from Richard @Wrangeldwhen I had my refusal whilst crossing the dune. I was able to view two recoveries from the back with instructions relayed over the radio which I find beneficial for newbies like me. It was also fun following the tracks laid out by @Pancho Last but not least, many thanks @Gaurav for the drive and in dealing with the recoveries along the way. I have uploaded some photos and videos at the Gallery.

Every Absolute Newbie drives brings a great satisfaction to meet so many new faces to make new off-road friends. Almost everyone was on time or slightly early which really helps to set the pace and start the day with a smile. Thank you everyone for being punctual, please continue to do so to respect everyone's time. Thanks @Vanessa8580 for wonderful support and helping everyone with deflation and inspecting vehicles for safety and tow points. Your support during the drive as a sweep and helping people redirect or self recover was truly amazing. Everyone appreciated your patience, knowledge and skills to explore off-roading and to enjoy your "most earned" day off with the best possible weekend activity. @Ali Abas Ali it was very nice to see you and probably the first forerunner in our club. You truly demonstrated your previous experience and coaching you have had to take the dunes with utmost precision, follow convoy discipline and manage the whole drive without any stucks or refusal. Really well done. @Jason Johnson it was good to see you and a manual wrangler, now we are seeing one manual wrangler on almost every second absolute newbie drive. Managing manual gear for off-road is totally different than on road where half clutch help you spin tires, but in off-road same will dig you deeper. I am sure with little time and practice you will enjoy the stick just like @Frederic and @Srikumar enjoys it now. Btw, don't forget to get the clutch check as I suspect it's running really low on life. @Muhammed Shabreen it was my first time to sit inside the GX as it's a bit rare combination here in UAE, but I was super impressed with its power and gadget it has almost at par with LC and LX. It's a beautiful and powerful vehicle that need bit of time for you get along. You have done wonderful too after deflating to 15 PSI from 21 and 24 PSI as in off-road "correct" deflation is very important for better flotation. Also learn to switch off the traction aides and SRS before next drive to enjoy it further. And please don't be so hard on yourself just because of last two stucks, you have driven wonderful from 5:30 - 8.30 AM. This can happen to anyone and everyone get stuck sometimes, so take it easy. Simply learn to push more gas next time whenever you are entering a soft patch and your vehicle starts to bog down, that's how we all escape from random soft sand patches all around. @tcarrimjee and @Senthil Kumar you both Patrol brothers made it yesterday like a walk in a park with your powerful beast that was probably waiting to be unleashed. I was very impressed seeing you both flooring the gas pedal at right time and clearing the cross tracks, inclines and slope without a sweat. Patrol Y62 has enough power but as you progress in your off-road journey just be careful of the front and rear bumper that is a bit of concern with this shape patrol. @tcarrimjee wonderful shot taken above of the new Jeep Gladiator, that tells exactly "How to NOT to recover the car". When car is 80% front heavy then recovering that car from back was a recipe for disaster to break the tow rope, tow hook or even chassis of other Jeep. @jodha singh shekhawat thanks for watching the video brief and I'm sure now you know what you will do with a snakebite . As I haven't heard anything from you so i assume you have had a good time and enjoyed your first introduction to sand. Nissan Xterra are one of my favourite 4x4 just because it comes off-road ready in a complete stock state. As you learn off-roading you will love your Xterra even more after every drive. @abdallah hussein with a friends like @Wael Mounier and @Khaled Abdalla Im sure you have had enough distractions (lol) and additional coaching in your jeep for the first ride. Hope you have enjoyed and learn to push your wrangler (another great off-roader) to its limit and get to know her beast side better. @Abhilash Nair you and your Pajero rocks and please don't judge your Pajero with your first off-road drive. Please check or change the gear oil and filter with OEM parts and test again, as Pajero gear oil doesn't heat up so fast usually as we have tons of pajero and they are happily pushing them at fewbie and intermediate level every week. Throw a question in Pajero forum and @Anish S, @Shiju Manuel, @Vanessa8580, @Frederic, @Mehmet Volga, @Mels Wolf will help you out with their experiences. @Adith Lobo good to hear about your off-road DNA from Indian roots and im sure you will love off-roading in UAE much more than India as desert in UAE is much more promising and playable. You will also love the Prado as it's a perfect combination of power and luxury and will take you almost anywhere you wish. Just be careful with front approach angle of Prado when you scale to higher level of drives, to be sensible enough while going down steep hill slowly to not damage or bend the front bumper. Moving forward you all will be joining the Newbie drives and not an Absolute Newbie drive. For the next drives, please bring along a deflator, pressure gauge, flag and radio as a minimum. Learn to deflate your tires and checking them precisely Learn to fix a flag on your car Learn to program and fully charge your radio Also like I mentioned during the debriefing, join the Carnity Whatsapp Drive Notification to get the latest updates on the drives, so that you can RSVP on time for the next weekend's drive. Please have a look at below topic which describes the tools needed for every level: Please have a look at below grading structure that explains various off-road levels: See you guys soon in the sand !

Short video from the drive. Who shot the drone footage? Hopefully the drone will recover (I can share my experience of fixing the drone after landing on the sand)

Sounds like I missed a very good one!

I love this drive. Gorgeous scenery with some technical dunes to challenge everyone . Everyone did so well .

Great drive Gavarav , super lead and empathy,Great radio support and guidance .Was able to get out all refusals , but most hilariously needed a tug after tyre reinflation 5 meters from the road .Thanks Gaurav and sorry for being in parking gear in the first two tugs .Lessons learnt in the desert , maintain adequete distance to develop torque momentum , maintain visual range .For reinflation chose a spot ...well on the tarmac . We got close to Pink Rock , saw it but as Gaurav said we missed out due to couple of folks requiring challenging time consuming recovery .Suggestion : since we cannot leave the vehicles or turn our attention away from the radio it would be nice if we get some verbal commentary on the recovery process , that way we can be engaged and learn from these recoveries as well as be updated on the status . If two seniors are doing the recovery the the third can educate the others on radio.🙂

Exciting drive this evening in Faya ! Thank you @Frederic and @Jeepie / Mariann (Do I spell right ...) managing the drive professionally, once again ! @Febin Frederic your help was really needed and advices valuable. See you on sand soon again.

@Frederic and @Rahimdad thank you very much for organizing such events. Lovely morning, with lovely terrains, with lovely SUVS around you.. learning alot from every single driver and specially from the legends. looking forward for more drives.. P.S. will check the radio sets. Thnx

Good Evening, It was a great drive today morning.Thanks @Frederic & @Rahimdad My co-pilot was able to capture some great moments, have saved them in the gallery. @SureshVNair good job in getting out from refusal, check out the gallery. Also got a nice shot of @Abu Muhammad driving down smoothly followed by @Rahimdad diving down the hill. Thanks guys

Dear Gaurav and Vanessa, Thanks a lot for that life changing experience. Being an offroad enthusiast in India it has taken me 9 years in the UAE to have had this experience in the desert. I am in awe of your high level of professionalism, expertise and skill in the way this drive was organised for Newbies. I enjoyed getting stuck and your tactful guidance in getting me out. Kudos to Vanessa and Gaurav Hope to keep meeting you more often at the drives

Dear @Emmanuel thanks for leading a very good drive N we really enjoy the path n group... see u soon

Hi Christian no worries, as long as they wear seatbelts 😜