Leaderboard

A safety flag is one of the most important safety items during desert driving. It improves your visibility to other vehicles, allowing convoy members and approaching vehicles to spot you well before reaching the top of a dune. Every off-roader is required to carry and use a proper safety flag on every drive. Flag Requirements Your safety flag must meet the following requirements: * Height: The flag should extend 2–3 metres (7–10 ft) above the roof of your vehicle. * Mounting: Install the flag vertically using a sturdy pole, preferably mounted to the roof or side window. * Visibility: The flag must remain upright and clearly visible throughout the entire drive. Approved Flag Types The following flag types are welcome: Solid colour flags National flags Sports team flags Charity or social cause flags Custom personal designs Not Permitted The following are not permitted: Towels, rags, torn cloth, safety vests or plastic bags used as flags Political or religious flags Flags representing other off-road clubs Commercial advertising or brand promotion flags Flags containing offensive language, symbols or images Respect the Club Your safety flag represents both you and the Carnity Offroad Club. Please choose a design that is respectful and appropriate for a family-friendly environment.

LAHBAB - QUDRA MARATHON DRIVE - PART 2 Report As winter approaches, long drives lasting the whole day, will soon become possible. This excursion was planned as one such drive, but was broken into 2 parts, firstly due to the lingering heat in the middle of the day, and secondly to allow more members to join, in this past long weekend. This route aims to join one of the least driven areas of Dubai - Lahbab - to the most popular one - Qudra - covering most of Dubai's desert from East to West. The whole drive covers 108 Km of sand, with a break between the end of the first half at Skydive and the start of the second leg at Murqaab (but it could also be Lisaili). The second leg of this marathon started just past Murqaab's Mosque, and took us through an initial area of tall and wide (almost flat topped) dunes, then on a sand track (cutting through an unfriendly technical area) to the long range dunes of Lisaili, ending in a gentle cascade at Solar Park, where we exited as the sun went below the horizon. It was great fun scaling the tall, camel back, dunes of Murqaab, which are really a great treat and a wonderful surprise, being so close to other well beaten locations, and yet so devoid of other convoys. And it was almost hypnotizing, the driving on Lisaili's easternmost dunes, which again immaculate, as much less driven than those closest to the pylons toward the north-west part of Lisaili. This Marathon Part 2 also saw @Foxtrot Oscar (Angela) making her debut in the Lead, executing an extremely clean, smooth as silk, follow the sun drive, from the heart of Lisaili all the way to Solar Park. Congrats Angela!! Great thanks also go to @Alexander Alcala for anchoring the convoy in the center position, and to @Pancho for sweeping it to safety, both assisting the few refusals of the day. Very well done to @Abu Muhammad, @Gok Krish, @Kailas, @Piotr Kolodziej, @VipinShetty, @topgear, and @asifk (I hope your family enjoyed the drive). The second part of the Marathon saw the convoy drive for 49.5Km, in 2:34 hours, at an average speed of 19Km/h (25Km/h while moving). Thank you all for coming, and see you soon in the sand.

Well done @Chaitanya D for showing great leadership again and I am definitely joining you again for a great desert experience. @Rahimdad what a couple of PSIs can make, thanks a lot for your advice last week, should I keep going lower on the PSI? @Lorenzo Candelpergher and @Nivin thanks for supporting the drive and see you soon!

The day of the longest rope recovery - Bab al Shams "The Secret Qudra" Report Interesting and stimulating two-faced drive yesterday in Bab al Shams area (that's what we call the south-western quadrant of Qudra, closest to the well known resort). The first face was that of a very smooth drive, with a well behaved convoy, responding perfectly to increasing challenges of ever higher side-sloping, riding low and wide ridges, and learning their first principles of how to approach and criss-cross dunes in a safe manner. This gentle, smooth face of the drive manifested itself twice. First, during the first half of the drive, which took us from our entry point, near one of this sector's feeding/drinking stations, through dunes sneaking their way toward the northern area of Qudra, and all along the long wide open dune corridors which are a true side-sloping paradise. Secondly, the drive resumed its pleasant, uninterrupted flow toward its end, on our way back to the Bab al Shams road, after crossing the bike track, and while riding the taller, but still wide open dunes which eventually took us back to our starting point to complete the loop. Here we even managed to practice the first criss-crossing as a convoy, with all cars managing the approach, the crest, and the exit without any hic-ups, in a well coordinated manner. In the middle of this marvelous drive, where all members drove more like Fewbies than Newbies, the second, tougher face of the drive showed itself. It had the semblance of an innocent looking slope, with a smooth, almost flat pocket to its right side. It's here that after I managed to go through, the 4 cars behind me were sucked into the apparently harmless pocket, for the first (and last) major multiple stuck of the day. While the last car of the group managed to self-recover, due to the softness of the sand and the nature of the pocket, with a slight hump in the middle, the other 3 cars could find no way to free themselves from the molasses. Here's where the multiple ropes came out. In fact, while the last car in the order of the stuck was pulled with only one rope, the second one needed 2, and the third and last car needed 3 ropes tied to each other, in order to allow the tugging vehicle to pull them from a position where it would still be able to move freely and exert its tug. While that one was also a first for me, it surely provided the whole convoy for some unplanned action, and a very educational opportunity to learn about recovery angles, proper hooking points, and use of safety ropes. With this experience under the belt, the drive was very well executed by all. Thanks to @Vanessa8580 for her tireless work from the Sweep position, to @Federico Galbieri for his Second Lead, and to this wonderful convoy of @syed salman raza, @frederic demolder, @Federico De Chirico, @Shyam Karat, @Ahab Shamaa, @Vijaysekhar, @Vinojps, @Kaushal Prithwani and @DANIEL NOGUEIRA. It took us 4:00 hours (of which 2:06 moving) to complete the 55.8Km of the drive, at an average speed of 14Km/h (but 26Km/h while moving). See you all soon in the sand.

TRIP REPORT One of those rare days, when it's not your day and last Friday was my turn. Reached meeting point and noticed one of my rear tire was at 4 PSI and failed to hold air after two attempts. Tried repairing the puncture and still it wasn't holding the air properly. Tried to replace with spare, but lug nuts were too tight (pressure gun) that I couldn't open them. So finally I decide to leave my car inside the desert and drove Vanessa's car to continue the drive. Apologies for all the delays and such unexpected series of events one after the other. Although it's super rare that I don't recollect having a puncture in last 5-6 years, but anything and everything is possible when you plan to off-road. Driving a big blue (3.8 Pajero) was quite fun and soon the whole convoy got the taste of their first absolute newbie drive in the Qudra desert. We still managed to cover about 20-25 km good fun drive covering with all basics of offroading and dealing with couple of refusal and stucks, including myself (lol) as big blue estimates were way off compared to my SWB Pajero. @Jordan Cope we have missed you on this drive, hope to see you soon on the next one. @Nathan Evans your beautiful Jimny is great for newbie - fewbie (I hope) level drive. You have done fantastic for the first drive and keep learning to drive Jimny as every car need some time to get used to. In your case, you also need to experiment the best tire pressure (lower, the better) without popping your tires off the rim (off course, its fixable with 10 mins). @Adrian Little appreciate your sensible approach to go back, when we realized that Porsche approach angle and ground clearance is just a tad shy than 8 inches. Hope to see you again, soon. @belal hadi you have done great too and keep on working with the frequent use of HI/Lo gear while self-recovering. @Mohamad Nasser thanks for giving me a tug with your beast. As you keep driving, you also need to keep experiment with different tire pressure as BF Goodrich are quite heavy and in some future drives you might lower them to 10-12 PSI (when needed). @Hazem Ali It was sad that you have to go back, as we really cannot accept "any vehicle" on "any drive" without front and rear tow points - strictly mandatory for all carnity drives. @Paul Zeitoun it was nice to hear your RAM scream in sync with Raptor to remind me in front that I have two V8 beast rolling happily behind the convoy. You have done great for absolute newbie drive and will love your RAM even more moving forward. @bassel el rafei your LC without the lower lip must be a totally new and relaxing experience for you. Good you have removed it to have more ground clearance and enjoy the dunes with greater peace of mind. As I have not heard any refusal or stuck from you, so you must be doing good at back. @Zaeem Haral thanks for taking up the sweep (responsible) position on your very first drive due to an eventful start. All your support and communication were highly appreciable. Hope your car bumper get sort out soon and will see you next week. Moving forward you all will be joining the Newbie drives and not an Absolute Newbie drive. Drives are announced every Sunday at 11 am, and they go live on Sunday at 7 pm. Due to the high demand, these drives get full in about 10 minutes, so please be online at 7 pm to book your spot. 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:

@Gaurav @Rahimdad @Frederic @Emmanuel and everyone else. Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement. I have just finished work and switched on the phone to discover this news. Great way to end the day. I look forward to continuing to learn with the help of you all. Greg

Thank you @Emmanuel and @Tbone for the guidance on my first time recoveries. I felt a good sense of satisfaction while recovering the car out of stuck 🤓

Dear @Gaurav, @Rahimdad, @Srikumar, @Frederic, @Jeepie, @Brette, @Wrangeld, @Emmanuel, @Ale Vallecchi,@Chaitanya D it was great to learn from Absolute Newbie to Advance by driving following your lead and to enjoy your warm support and true contagious passion for off-roading. In Carnity I found much more than just an off-roading club and the more I proceed in this journey the more I am convinced it was the best choice I could make. Until March 2020 I had spent 12 full years in Dubai and had gone in the desert off-roading only twice, having seen the sunrise only while in a taxi to the airport for one of my hundreds of pre-covid era flights... Now, 7 months later I have driven almost 2000km in the sand in more than 40 drives.. 😂😂 (and no flights!!). Desert off-roading has been the perfect anti-stress medicine during the last difficult months, ensuring every weekend a mental reset (either you disconnect from your phone emails / calls or you crash your car), a full energy top-up (almost literally delivered by sunbeams at dawn) and granting a constantly renewed sense of peace, mindfulness and gratitude that I had somehow lost in my workaholic life. In this 1st chapter of my personal off-roading book, I loved every pop-out, as each time it was reason for my son's greatest excitement, every refusal, every stuck and every recovery. I avidly looked at every landscape and defiantly listened to the roaring of my Y62's 400hp engine. I was thrilled at every deflating and hungry for more driving just after switching off my compressor, while I felt the excitement of a child every time I added a new piece to my off-roading gear, from hat to boots, from flag to floor jack. Above all, however, I especially enjoyed and I am truly thankful for @Wrangeld's constant encouragement, guidance and support, which was the closest thing I can think of to off-roading mentoring. I was amazed by the game-changing impact of some of the advice I received, which transformed my driving performance drastically one week after the other, and amused by Richard's the joyful enthousiasm and infinite patience, which - I must say - is a distinctive trait of all Carnity Seniors. I must also thank @Luca Palanca Falsini, who is the real culprit for my initiation to off-roading. It was him, who first took me to a family off-road drive, after which I signed up with Carnity. Now a new chapter in my off-roading book can be inked: I truly look forward to learning the art of leading in the desert, hoping - one day - to be able to give back as much as I have received so far.

Well done @Karthik Krishnakumar - enjoy the new level

Well done @Gregory Perkin - enjoy the new challenges

Congratulations @Karthik Krishnakumar

@Goutamcongratulations

Congratulations @Gregory Perkin.

Well deserved @Gregory Perkin !

Congrats @Goutam!!

Congrats @Karthik Krishnakumar!

Congrats @Goutam !

Congrats @Karthik Krishnakumar!!

Congrats @Gregory Perkin!!!

Congrats !!

Congrats @Gregory Perkin!!!

Yes indeed it was pleasure driving with @Ale Vallecchi and everyone. Thank you @Alexander Alcala for the help and advise.

This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: BAN POST Two Way Radio Guidelines Every Off-roader brings his own radio, programmed to the frequencies described in below advice topic. We will not share spare radios or program your radio on the drive. If you need assistance in programming the radio, post a topic on the Carnity website with your questions and we will help you out. Make sure your radio is fully charged. It will be your only way of communication while driving. Before buying, please carefully read below advice so you are informed properly on which model / cost / shops... No radio = No drive. It is an essential tool and you should make sure you bring it on every drive and learn/practice how to use it. Drive Details Level: Fewbie and above When: 06 November 2020, Friday Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Drive 1 - Tbone (Vinod): https://goo.gl/maps/Qi9XEbKg6JDaGxRt7 Drive 2 - Brette: https://goo.gl/maps/Z3qmC3knGxHVtYec9 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), face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 10:00 AM THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. WE WILL END THE DRIVE AT A POINT WHICH IS NOT CLOSE TO AN AIR LINE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A COMPRESSOR, PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS DRIVE. IF YOU ARRIVE AND HAVE NO COMPRESSOR YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE DRIVE. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 20 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Thursday - 9 AM. 2 Lead Marshal + 2 or 4 Senior Members + 20 Members. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - 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 BELOW CALENDAR

Congratulations @Gregory Perkin for reaching the Intermediate Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. INTERMEDIATE Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 drives are required within last 6 months for Intermediate promotion. (Drives can be a mix of Newbie, Fewbie (50%) and Fewbie plus, depending on your adaptability, learning progress and Marshal’s feedback) What you'll learn Basic GPS and navigational skills Basic tow rope and winch recoveries Extreme side sloping and long hill climb Tall dunes ridge riding and criss crossing Precise control over technical dunes Fast pace desert driving Skills required Adventurous and thrill seeker but in a safe manner Level headed under stressful situations Responsible, dependable and accountable Car Worthiness Capable 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle High profile tires Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor, tool kit, rated recovery rope and 2 rated shackles, GPS. Drive teamwork Manage center forward position with Trip Lead’s permission Learn/assist recoveries under Trip Lead’s supervision Re-route convoy and coordination, when needed Learn to lead small portion of Intermediate drive under Marshal supervision Drive Joining Join Newbie, Fewbie, Intermediate and Exploration drives only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

By Hot Oil, I am presuming you mean the transmission fluid. When was the last time you changed it? Does it have a burnt smell, if so then change it and try driving it over this weekend. If the oil has been recently changed, have you tried driving it on tiptronic. Does it still cause the overheating? I am not sure if your version of Wrangler came in with a separate transmission cooler. But if none of the above is a solution you might have to install as large a fan as possible in front of the tranny cooler. I believe a 12 inch Spal fan would cost you approx AED 250. @Gaurav had recently bought one. And probably as a last resort have a dedicated transmission cooler.

Congratulations @Karthik Krishnakumar for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 5 Newbie drives are required within last 3 months for Fewbie promotion. What you'll learn Basic dune and sand reading Basic self-recovery techniques Advance side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Presence of mind and attention to detail Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie and Fewbie drives And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Congratulations @Goutam for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 5 Newbie drives are required within last 3 months for Fewbie promotion. What you'll learn Basic dune and sand reading Basic self-recovery techniques Advance side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Presence of mind and attention to detail Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie and Fewbie drives And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Presumably you’ve checked all your fluid levels? If so it’s worth having someone check your thermostat first. I’ve read and heard a lot of JK’s having thermostat problems. Here’s a good post to follow: https://wranglerjkforum.net/threads/why-is-my-jeep-wrangler-jk-overheating.26152/

Congratulations @Gregory Perkin. You deserve it

@Karthik Krishnakumar Congratulations!

@Goutam Congratulations!

@Gregory Perkin Congratulations!

Congratulation @Gregory Perkin time to unleash the power of the red 👍

Congratulations @Karthik Krishnakumar well done 👍

Congratulations @Goutam prepare the yellow for softer sand 👍

Congratulations @DANIEL NOGUEIRA. Enjoy your new level

Well done @DANIEL NOGUEIRA - enjoy the new level

Congrats @DANIEL NOGUEIRA!!

Congrats @DANIEL NOGUEIRA ! Get ready for more fun !

thanks @Ale Vallecchi for the drive. It was my first exploration drive and I felt challenged with the constant change of terrain, dune etc. The pace of this drive was also the fastest that I had participated so far. Despite a few refusals and one 'false-stuck' on the dune where @Pancho @asifk came out with their spades (thanks guys), I enjoyed this thoroughly. The briefing prior to the switch over was helpful as well. Thanks a lot to Pancho for his radio guidance whenever I get refusals. The second part led by @Foxtrot Oscar was smooth and interesting with a mixture of what the desert has to offer. If it was not mentioned, it did not feel like her debut lead drive at all.

this was an amazing drive and the fact we were the only convoy despite being a long holiday weekend made it that much more special. my family had a great time ! hope to see you all in the dunes again soon. Thanks @Ale Vallecchi and @Foxtrot Oscar and everyone !

Thanks @Frederic for this well defined off-road flag guidelines, as many people have asked me the same in newbie drives.

Congratulations Dr @Chaitanya D for your first independent lead. Hope your Xterra a speedy recovery. @Lorenzo Candelpergher you are quickly building a reputation for yourself and I can see that you'll soon be leading a drive of your own. @Jorge Stepniak Felippe what tire pressure were you at this week? You can always experiment to go lower by 1 PSI, if you don't feel any difference or have a pop-out, you know 1 PSI higher is what is best for you. As an example I used to drive on 12 PSI until I was having to really push the car and still got refusals. So I went down to 11 PSI and no more refusals or having to push the car harder. So even 1 PSI makes a huge difference. I tried going down to 10 PSI without any difference felt so just stick to 11 PSI. Keep in mind that every tire and rim has its own dynamics and just because 8 PSI suits you on BF Goodrich on 15 inch rims on your beefy tires, will not work on less beefy Yokohama Geolandar AT. So if you ever change your tires you will need to experiment before reaching your perfect score again.

I want to thank @Ale Vallecchi for the incredible route and especially @Foxtrot Oscar for the last part (it was extremely fun). I enjoyed very much the pace and the zigzag in the final dunes. I also want to mention that it was noticeable the improvement during the ride for some of my comrades in the way they tackled the dunes and managed to avoid getting stuck. I enjoyed very much helping those that had issues and got stuck (no shame on that), but in the second leg there were few of those. Special mention to @Abu Muhammad that was way more confident in the end than it looked in the beginning (good work). I only regret that being by myself I couldn't take as many pictures as I would have liked it. Next time I will try to attach a GoPro to my jeep (jajaja) See you soon

@Rahimdad, mentioning your name even million times would appear less for all your support, efforts and guidance throughout the drives..thank u...☺️ I did miss my copilot @Anish S as well but it is good to be independent sometimes😉.. Kudos to the whole team again for an excellent drive..

@Veedooshee you failed at writing a good trip report, you mentioned me only 7 times in your 7 lines. Hahaha. What a beautiful day with beautiful people all around. It was sad to learn that @Anish S was busy at work and could not join. Yet @Veedooshee did a marvelous job at second lead and it was good to see how far she's come since I last saw her. The greatest thing about her is her enthusiasm has not changed to learn and do better. @Brette thank you for allowing me to support your drive. It's a wonderful feeling when you coach and mentor someone and the day when you get to flavour their drive and get to support them to pay back in part for all the times they supported your drives. @Sinol great to see you out with your family. Sure there is a slight up in the difficulty level from newbie to Fewbie, but you seemed to handle most situations well. It was great to have you on the drive, 12 PSI would seem to be the right figure to maintain, just make sure your gauge is working and need to apply more throttle at times remember we are not on the roads anymore. Your Pajero needs to learn you need all the power it has on offer. @Syed Raza Hussain. Wow. Great enthusiasm and energy. Loved your smile throughout the morning. I believe you're having so much fun you didn't even realize the time fly by. @Rizwan Waheed you were awesome with your Pajero. However you need to lower the weight in the car to get more power available to get it moving. With the restricted power accessible to you still you did well for the major part of the trip. @Athula Dharmadada your JGC seems to be loving the way you're handling it. I've seen a good growth in your progress and you've really done well with the JGC. Hope the steering oil issue gets sorted out soon. @Craig Finlayson always a pleasure to drive with you. The energy you bring to any drive is incredible. Congratulations on your first rope recovery. Very nicely managed. Incredible patience and raw enjoyment of the terrain on offer. Well done buddy. @Gok Krish drive style is looking so much more confident with the Jeep Wrangler. Amazingly well done at the Fewbie level, seems you're enjoying and perfecting your skills at this level and the Wrangler has lots to do with it. @Ali Abas Ali seems to be very comfortable in a Toyota only he knows how to operate in the best way possible. He just keeps surprising me week after week as I tried his ride once and seems 1 button makes all the difference. Keep enjoying and keep conquering. @Neale Faulkner thank you for the Halloween scares. Lovely pic of you without your morning make up. Once again you and your Wrangler seem to be synced in and know what to expect from one another. Absolute treat to watch you murder those dunes. @Kailas is settling in with different responsibilities. This week it was the sweep duties and he did so well to keep everybody in convoy moving at all times. Finally, what do I say about @Rahimdad. He's such a wonderful and humorous person. Always adding life to a drive. The drive would have been half the fun without him. Catching up with @Frederic, @Foxtrot Oscar and @Pancho was the treat right at the end. Thank you for coming to Faya and blessing us with your presence. Really awesome time out with awesome weather and beautiful people. Love to all.

LAHBAB - QUDRA MARATHON DRIVE - PART 1 Report As winter approaches, long drives lasting the whole day, will soon become possible. This excursion was planned as one such drive, but was broken into 2 parts, firstly due to the lingering heat in the middle of the day, and secondly to allow more members to join, in this past long weekend. This route aims to join one of the least driven areas of Dubai - Lahbab - to the most popular one - Qudra - covering most of Dubai's desert from East to West. The whole drive covers 108 Km of sand, with a break between the end of the first half at Skydive and the start of the second leg at Murqaab (but it could also be Lisaili). The first part of the drive, which we are reporting here, took us from a yellow sand area of open dunes, with a few technical areas and sabkhas separating them, to a fun string of red sand low bowls overlooking Nazwa (with Big Red and Badayer's pyramid dunes visible in the distance, then directly west toward Skydive, through technical yellow dunes, and finally, whiter sand open dunes close to Skydive. The drive took place without almost any refusals (save while riding in the bowls), with all drivers displaying very good control of their cars, both in the tighter, more technical terrain, and in the more fun playgrounds. It is incredible how this area gifts us with no other clubs' convoys zig-zagging through it, in spite of its proximity to the most popular Nazwa/Big Red/Badayer off-roading locations. The only human signs were tracks left by locals training their falcons, and a circuit used by quad-drivers during the previous day, which marked heavily the sand close to Skydive. Other than this, we thoroughly enjoyed the almost unspoiled area. Congratulations for an excellent drive to @Tamas Hoffmann as Second Lead (waiting to see some of that drone footage), to@Alexander Alcala covering the Center Lead position with abnegation, and to @Foxtrot Oscar (Angela) for her clean sweep of the convoy. A note of "Very Well Done" to all the drivers: @Javier Lucero, @Athula Dharmadada, @Anand Nataraj, @Senthil Kumar, @Yasas Dharmadasa, @RaYan E, @Jihad Hachem, and @Abu Muhammad. This first part of the Marathon covered 58.8Km, in 2:55 hours of driving (while moving), at a total average speed of 14Km/h (20 Km/h while moving). Thank you to all the members, looking forward to another, uninterrupted Marathon drive. With the idea of getting ready for the winter, when long drives lasting a whole day (with a lunch break) will be possible

Dear @Chaitanya D, I was honestly very impressed by your cool and professional lead yesterday. It may have been your first independent lead but it didn't look like so and I think everyone in the convoy appreciated your great experience and the sense full control that you were constantly projecting. The start from the Camel Track was fast and at the end of the convoy I was driving in a thick cloud of white dust, hardly seing the car in front of me. The Lisaili technical dunes were crossed quickly and without any troubles. Actually it happened so fast that by the time we were out I still had the feeling we hadn't started yet. Approaching the long dunes behind was really beautiful and we were blessed with a fantastic view of the sunrise with multiple hot-air baloons flying above us. The subsequent portion of the drive was fast paced and action packed, with very nice and long ridge riding / criss crossing opportunities. As I was driving at the back and in the opposite direction along a close parallel line I could witness @Chaitanya D's car diving nose down in to a totally hidden and nasty bump at the end of a long and flat ridge that didn't give any hint of such an insidious spot. The impact was unavoidable as was the damage to the radiator, I guess, but @Chaitanya D was very responsive in instructing the following cars to steer away avoiding the point. It took a while for the leakage to become evident so we kept on driving and having great fun, until we had to surrender to the impossibility to safely proceed further. The exit took quite some time and luckily the damaged X-Terra could make it. Everyone drove very well, from what I could see from the back, kudos to all. And great congratulations to @Chaitanya D for his first independent lead. I will be happy, one day, to have half if your coolness in the occasion of my first drive as a lead.

TRIP REPORT: Premature end for an exciting drive, which was turning hot. Thank you friends for showing up in time for this drive, which will be etched in my memory for being my first independent Intermediate drive with Carnity off road club. Probably this was the only memorable thing in this drive and feels terrible we had to end it rather abruptly owing to my car running hot and could not continue further considering the terrain which was coming next. We started on time, and drove along the Lisaili Camel track entering the technical areas after the subsidiary track on the other side of the pylon track we took, it was indeed a very pleasant morning. We could negotiate the technical terrain in quick time , thanks to every one driving very well in this area. Some of you had done this terrain few weeks back and the way you all got through the technical area was great. Once onto the Sabkhas separating technical and Long range dunes in Lisaili, we were onto it in quick time. Ridge crossing on a rather steep looking one got few cars crested which were recovered by the adjoining cars in quick time. As you are all intermediates , this will be norm where you will be responsible to recover the car immediately to the next or before you . Again probably I was getting excited a bit too much, that I got stuck myself in a super soft patch while trying to backtrack to see what was happening. Thanks to @Lorenzo Candelpergher's advise I could recover myself with shovelings and some steering adjustments. Once we were beyond these initial hiccups, we did squeeze out all the juicy long range dunes which Lisaili has to offer for side sloping, ridge riding and criss crossing. Every one of you did extremely well and showed very good control even on doing longer ridge rides. Well done to all of you. One one of these ridges I took a nasty bump which was the trigger point for what was coming next in few hours. We drove along most of the playable long range dunes and headed towards our next landmark which was the long range dunes in Murquab. While you all negotiated the slightly easier technical area between Lisaili and Murquab with minimal refusal only, I was again getting excited seeing long range dunes just beyond some small dunes and the discussion about "honeymoon areas" sprung up. We took a small break and that's when I realized my heat guage was showing slightly higher than normally expected temperature. I waited for it to come down a bit and started again , very eager to get on to the " honeymoon" dunes. My guages were blowing hot and if had not stopped I would have almost kissed and blew the head gasket. We stopped to check and , did all that we could in the middle of the desert. With a dry radiator and reservoir, a gallon coolant topped up meant I had something serious, we had to cut short this drive and exit out through the shortest route onto tarmac. I felt sad it had to end this way because everyone of you were driving really well to all the challenges which this terrain was throwing at you. At one point after getting out of Lisaili , I was feeling very positive we were on track to Faqa considering we had very few issues. But as it is said Man proposes and God disposes, the desert Gods disposed this wish we could make it . @Nivin was my second lead, defacto leader and you all followed his tracks. He was quick in responding to reroute/deviate from the nasty track/bumps I took ,considering the faster pace we were driving at.Job well done. @Mehmet Volga in his pajero was having minimal issues in driving , especially in technical areas . Much more confident and well driven than the recent drive we had in the same area. @Islam Soliman's first intermediate drive, and quite glad you have tamed the beast in yukon. Even in technical and tight spots getting this LWB car in an out is really commendable. @Ilya Golubinsky in his wrangler LWB was hardly heard on the radio, great control on the slopes and ridges. Well driven buddy. @Jorge Stepniak Felippe' first intermediate drive and he was surfing on the dunes in his SWB wrangler. Very well driven in all the areas. @Christian Andras in his Blue FJC was seen enjoying the challenges with very minimal issues. His FJC was riding through without breaking a sweat and the credit has to go to the driver for managing it well. @Janarthan was the more experienced of the lot , towards the back of the convoy . He was excellent in rerouting slightly and exiting out on ridges when they were getting churned up. Excellent Jana. @Lorenzo Candelpergher was my sweep, after the recent promotion to Advance level. Fantastic driving as usual , great control of the massive Y62 and excellent with presence of mind for a well thought advise. Thank you! Some Stats from the drive Total time- 2hr52 min Moving time- 1hr 51min Ave Pace - 25Kmph, Max speed 57.9Kmph Distance covered 45.5 Km I would say it was probably my mistake in misreading a nasty bump on the down sloping end of a ridge which was the trigger point that leaked all the coolant from my radiator drop by drop, evaporating even before one could make out it was leaking. Probably I pushed it a bit hard, but I don't know what else I could have done to avoid it. Probably the nerves of leading a first intermediate drive took the better out of me. I will sort my car soon to come back here and accomplish what we planned one day, really hoping you all will show confidence in me and join in again. See you all next weekend (hopefully!) and enjoy your week.

Thanks @Mehmet Volga. I enjoyed driving with you too, well driven buddy.Car is fine now after changing radiator and reshaping the bracket. Just running it for few days to make sure all is well before hitting the sand again.