Leaderboard

With so many nationalities in the club, we’d love to hear your favorite song that you’d recommend us to hear on our way from or to the desert. Be creative and share your top song and add it to our very own Carnity Spotify Playlist ! Of you don’t have a Spotify account you can add to your song in the drive topic so we can add it for you. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7KRp9Xub5g3sXB5dW2D9DX?si=mO2aLdeeR52Qta4MC4i_nA&dl_branch=1

The Long Trek - Drive Report "Although the road is never ending, take a step and keep walking. Do not look fearfully into the distance" - Rumi We set off from Northern Qudra with the notion that our road would be long, would be hard, and that there would be no going back (to paraphrase W.Churchill 😅). The first half of the drive was on well known ground, from "the big farm off the roundabout on Bab al Shams road" all the way to the long range dunes beyond the bike track, and from there eastward to cross the tarmac close to Solar Park. The driving was smooth, in varied terrain (from long range dunes to technical area, deep bowls, then the lower red dunes between the bike track and the pylons). Virtually no issues slowed us down, and we managed to complete the first segment in 1:27 hours. The second segment of the drive took us, once again, through a different part of Lisaili, and eventually in the direction of Murqab, where we exited. All my latest drives in Lisaili have been on different tracks, always looking for new locations, progressively going more and more east, farther and farther away from the pylons. This is where the terrain keeps offering long range dune, with the addition of small sabkhas, tighter, newer formations, and several areas with groups of trees. It was certainly the more challenging part of the drive. Nonetheless, save a few stucks (as I reminded, sometimes it's better to exit a ridge - carefully - rather than trying to over-power it, as this may not always work, leading do getting crested), we managed to reach our ultimate goal, Murqab's tall dunes, just in time to see the sun dipping below the haze, on the horizon. Not only we arrived just in time, but we also reached the goal of this Long Trek drive - to equal or better the longest Fewbie drive I had done in the past (with the mark placed at 82 Km). Indeed, we covered 83.2 Km, in exactly 3 hours of driving (3:54 hours including the stops), at an average moving speed of 28 Km/h (21 Km/h total). I have to admit that the drive proved to be more complex and full of diversity than I expected. The convoy proved to be great, managing all possible situations, solving the stucks and few refusals with speed and competence, and keeping the concentration for the whole drive (as testified by the many spells of silence that indicated a convoy enthralled with the driving). In fact, this time the whole convoy's attention and concentration was the greatest asset on display. Great job by @Lakshmi Narasimhan in Second Lead, tireless support by @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ at Center Forward, and a vigilant Sweep by @Christian Andras (your new tire set up, finally giving you peace of mind). the rest of the convoy - @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, @Sunil Mathew, @Chinthaka Ruwan, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Humayun Ghias, @Russ and @Darren Brooke - went through the drive without a hic-up, completing it with great poise and perfect driving. Thanks a lot to all for the great afternoon. Enjoy the rest of the week, and hope to see you soon again.

Thank you @Ale Vallecchifor yet another amazing drive. It seemed we were ridge riding for miles! Thank you @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQfor all your help, the convoy kept you busy at times! Appreciate all the support from @Christian Andrasand @Lakshmi Narasimhan Was great seeing all of you again, congratulations to @Russon IM promotion! Let us know how different the drives are! Looking forward to seeing you all again

I couldn't have done it without @Brette

I've joined the party too. Although still trying to figure out at what point will I be good enough to play these tunes "during the drive" 🤔

Thank you everyone! Looking forward to the next level. Hope to see you all soon. @Ale Vallecchi thanks for making my AN drive something that led and inspired me to continue with this awesome pastime!

Hello @PaoloMaraziti @Anoop Nair @munkybizness, Waitlist- Paolo - 1st (2nd Drive) Anoop - 2nd (2nd Drive) Munkybiz - 3rd (2nd Drive) PS: If I get any newcomers in the waiting list, preference will be given to them and it will continue for 2nd drive members. This is to ensure, everybody gets their chance to drive. Cheers

Thank you Frederic! So much to understand about dune formation and the effects of weather.

While offroading, we cross dunes by using different methods, based on how the dune is formed and what the drive level is. Once you have spent some time in the desert, you will slowly start to pay more attention to the dune formations and how we cross them. Once you reach Intermediate and Advance level, you'll need to start learning how to read these dunes in order to navigate and create your planned routes in the desert. As a rule of thumb, the prevailing wind in UAE is blowing from a North-Western direction to South-East direction from 10AM onwards. At night and in early morning it will be reversed and blow from the South-East to North-West. This is something you should remember and you will notice when you zoom into certain areas with your navigation app (Google Maps, Gaia, MotionX, Mytrails,...) you will notice that the wind from that side has caused the dunes to take on their shape. This is a general rule and will not always apply, as you will see that in certain areas where wind is coming from different directions, you will see for example "star" dunes appearing. There are different types of dunes which are separately described below. As you can see in below picture, a dune is formed when the prevailing wind blows on a mound of sand, where the grain will move into the wind direction and create a ridge. The sand which falls on the other side of the ridge, creates a slipface, and this sand is not compacted by the wind. This is the main reason why we generally drive on the prevailing wind side or the convex side of the dunes on the Newbie level. "A dune is a curiously dynamic creature," wrote Farouk El-Baz in National Geographic. “Once formed, a dune can grow. It can change shape and move with the wind. It can even breed new dunes. Some of these offspring may be carried on the back of the mother dune. Others are born and race downwind, outpacing their parents. [Source: Farouk El-Baz, National Geographic, February 1982] The shape of dunes is affected by things like the strength, direction and consistency of the winds; the consistency and amount of sand; the hardness of the terrain and the amount of vegetation. Below we will describe the most common dunes found in the UAE. Different Dunes Crescent or Barchan Dune This is the most common dune. It forms the shape of a crescent moon when the wind blows from one direction. We generally use the words concave and convex to describe both sides of the dune: * Concave is a shape that curves inwards. * Convex is a shape that curves outwards. Crescent-shaped mounds generally are wider than long. On the concave side you will have the slipface. These dunes form under winds that blow from one direction, and they also are known as barchans. Parabolic Dune A parabolic dune is similar in shape to a barchan, but it is just the opposite. The tips of this dune point into the wind, and its main body migrates with the wind, forming a depression between the tips. Because of this formation, parabolic dunes are also known as blowout dunes. These dunes often occur when vegetation stabilizes sediments and a U-shaped blowout forms between clumps of plants. Example of Parabolic dunes near Faya: https://goo.gl/maps/ob8xu3y8VJJvF6hk8 Longitudinal or "Seif" Dunes They are also often referred to to as "sand ridges" or "seifs". Their length can range from a few meters to many kilometers and their height from a couple meters high to a couple hundred meters high. Wind pushes the sand and forms ridges parallel to the prevailing wind direction with slip faces either side of the crest. Linear dunes are straight or slightly sinuous sand ridges typically much longer than they are wide. They may be more than 160 kilometers long. Linear dunes may occur as isolated ridges, but they generally form sets of parallel ridges separated by miles of sand, gravel, or rocky interdune corridors. Some linear dunes merge to form Y-shaped compound dunes. Many form in bidirectional wind regimes. The long axes of these dunes extend in the resultant direction of sand movement. Barchanoid Dunes These ridges are similar to Barchan dunes. They are connected in long crescentic waves as the sand supply is much greater than that which forms a Barchan Dune. Star Dunes These dunes are formed when there are several prevailing wind directions - there is a complex wind regime. Typically there are three or more slip faces, whilst the dunes do not migrate they grow in height. Star dunes are radially-symmetrical, spyramidal sand mounds with slipfaces on three or more arms that radiate from the high center of the mound. They are created when the winds blow equally from every direction, causing the sand dune to grow many extensions and resemble a star. They are rare and are fairly stable and remain in the same place. Some are landmarks with names. Example of a Star dune: https://goo.gl/maps/jRnYghQc8ACzVz6T7 With this knowledge, the next time you step into the desert, you can start looking at the different dune formations, and this will give you lots of knowledge that you'll be able to apply in the future when leading and navigating off-road drives.

Love your list @Frederic. I don't use Spotify but a few of my favourites are: Sultans of swing / Dire Straits Winds of change / scorpions Coming back to life / Pink Floyd Hysteria / Def Leppard I'm on fire / Bruce Springsteen You never can tell / Bruce Springsteen

@M.Seidam, @Brian Dev- our recruitment opportunity has arrived...😎

Just added a few of my faves

Well done @Russ. I have enjoyed seeing you progressing from your very first drive. Have fun at your new rank.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7KRp9Xub5g3sXB5dW2D9DX?si=mO2aLdeeR52Qta4MC4i_nA&dl_branch=1

Love this!! Tom Petty - runnin' down a dream What a track! Hey mate Can you share the link to the playlist o searched but couldn't see it Cheers!

Dear @Kailas thank you so much for this nice drive and very supportive team. Really appreciate team work of @Joe Biju Joseph @Alex Raptor & @Gaurav Soni Thank you so much for all your effort, support and help. God bless ... Stay Safe ... See you in next drive.

Hi @Wrangeld, kindly consider me as support team under manage.

Well deserved mate!

Hi Salah, For sure - and sorry I did not let you know in advance I was leading a Newbie: I was originally going to be driving Fewbie. Keep a look as as people's plans often change. Yes it will be shared. I am still deciding on the best place to start so we get the best chances for a great drive.

Congratulations @Gilbert Khalil

Hey @Russ, congratulations mate - well done and keep climbing!

Looking forward to it Richard!

Thanks Sunil 🙏👍

@Wrangeld waitlist please, 1st drive

Please waitlist me, as a second drive.

Can you pls waitlist me, 2nd drive for weekend thanks

Congrats @Gilbert Khalil, well done. Enjoy the new level.

Thank you @Ale Vallecchi for the really looooooooooooo...ng drive, covering 80+ km in 4 hours or so. Having a drive in the morning same day, i should say it was a bit of an exertion for me, and a test of my concentration skills, given the abundance of technical areas we did. I was a bit delayed to reach the meeting point as i was planning on reaching just in time, and not earlier, to catch maximum rest after the morning drive. I knew it was pushing myself, but with the family away in hometown , and nothing else to do, i decided to give it a shot - back to back drives on same day, and needless to say, i did not drop dead and lived to tell the story!! 🙂 Some tricky crossings, soft sand bowls, lot of ridge rides , all blended into the "long trek" kilometre crunch!! I am not sure if the convoy of @Lakshmi Narasimhan , @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, myself, @Chinthaka Ruwan, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Humayun Ghias, @Russ, @Darren Brooke with the support of @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ and @Christian Andras finally enabled @Ale Vallecchi to do justice to the "Dubai-Sharjah" trek. Did we reach Faqa/sharjah border ? and speaking of stats, with this drive i have crossed 1500 Km in the desert - a personal milestone albeit a small one!!! See you all (or at least some of you 😉) next week!!

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. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie and above Meeting time: 05:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/4sf9ekGtGeNtvAEs5 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, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 09:00 AM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Thursday - 9 AM. 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. Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list. 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

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. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie and above Meeting time: 05:30 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: TBA 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, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 09:00 AM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Thursday - 9 AM. 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. Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list. 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

Congratulations @Gilbert Khalil 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 Self-recovery techniques Shoveling at right place Crawling out of difficult situations Blip Blip - Coordinate steering and gas control Basic side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Ability to manage stuck/refusals with radio Learn to control and avoid fishtailing Never fight or challenge gravity 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 Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Great initiative. By the looks of it our musical taste seem aligned as well and because there are a few Italians maybe someone will appreciate Ligabue

Very good @imranaasghar81 enjoyed a watch

Welcome @Christopher Mitch Fuerzasand @jack.simmoniteand thanks for joining this Absolute newbie drive, we will have a relaxing fun desert drive coming Friday and I look forward to seeing you all. Please share your vehicle details - Make, Model, Year. Do you have any prior off-road experience? Confirm your vehicle has front and rear tow hooks / eyelets. Confirm your vehicle has minimum of 8 inches of ground clearance.

Congratulations Russ! Was great to see you this past Saturday. Looking forward to joining your intermediate rank and driving together soon!

Congrats @Russ that was quick! Keep churning that sand!

Waiting list for 2nd drive 1. @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil 2. @Anoop Nair 3. @munkybizness 4. @JeromeFJ

@Ale Vallecchi, please me on waiting list if someone drops out. regards,

Jason Grima @Jason Grima varunmehndiratta @varunmehndiratta Hafizah Okunnu @Hafizah Okunnu Alexanderrr @Alexanderrr Alex Hollands @Alex Hollands Paul Zeitoun @Paul Zeitoun Adam James @Adam James Super Safari Girl @Super Safari Girl imranaasghar81 @imranaasghar81 Ajit John @Ajit John Usman Basit @Usman Basit Pieter Potgieter @Pieter Potgieter Congraulations - you're all signed up for a morning of fun and fantastic dunes. The area we are going to is less visited than others in the Qudra Complex and offers lots of climbs, crests and swooping dunes to navigate and cross. If all goes well, we will make our way back into Last Exit. If your plans change, please let me know as early as possible, remove your RSVP and open up a space for someone on the wait list. More to come during the week. Looking forward to seeing you on Friday. Se you soon in the sand.

Hey Lads, here's a video taken from the drive with @Luca Palanca Falsiniand @Lorenzo CandelpergherI believe it was Lorenzo's first drive with his new jeep. Wasn't sure which drive it was so couldn't post it there anyway enjoy -

Done Doc..pls check now

Hey guys it's been a long time. I have made another 360 video it looks good playing through a TV. Wasn't sure where to post it so thought I may as well post it here. Enjoy! @Luca Palanca Falsini

@Ale Vallecchiwaitlist please, no rides for this week yet. Thanks!

Can’t open the link @Sunil Mathewcan you publish it as public or grant access please ?🙏

Will the meeting point be shared? Thanks.

Please consider me for on the WL for a 2nd drive @Islam Soliman

Congrats @Gilbert Khalil

Thanks @Anish S & @Wrangeld for the exciting drive yesterday.. It was my first fewbie drive experience and throughly enjoyed it…

Superb article with so much useful information...Maybe i'm asking too much but if possible on future drives can you highlight the dune type... for Newbies like me it would be WoW moment

With the tremendous increase in the number of COVID cases in the UAE, we all have to be responsible while off-roading. Failing to abide by any single precaution at any time during the drive, will result in an immediate ban from Carnity Off-road Club. ZERO TOLERANCE First offender - 1 Month Ban. Second offender - 3 Month Ban. Third offender - lifetime ban and report to authorities. COVID19 PRECAUTIONS 2.0 All Carnity off-road drives will be LIMITED to driving only: No Socializing and gathering allowed at any time. No break for taking photos, breakfast, smoking, etc. No exchanging of off-road or recovery gears. Wear a mask at all times, while outside your vehicle. For passengers restrictions, follow RTA or NCEMA guidelines. All passengers should be inside the car, at all times. Maintain a minimum of 2-meter social distance at all times. Sanitize your hands and recovery gear after use. PS1. If you and your passenger cannot sit inside your vehicle for 3-4 hours please DO NOT JOIN CARNITY DRIVES. PS2. A Member who has RSVP the drive is RESPONSIBLE and LIABLE for their passenger's compliance. PS3. The above precautions apply to everyone irrespective of their vaccination status or schedule. PS4. You can confidentially submit the photo of any offender by sending an email to [email protected]. How to comply Read the drive post before arriving at the meeting point, so that you know your convoy numbering and radio channel. Arrive at the meeting point and switch on your radio to the pre-set frequency of the drive. Stop your vehicle at least 10-20 meters away from each other. Deflate your tires, while wearing a mask, and then go back inside your car. All briefings will be done on the radio now, so pay full attention to a briefing for your own safety. After the briefing, fall in your convoy position just before the drive starts. While driving if you get stuck, announce on the radio and be inside your car at all times. Trip lead and/or support will guide you on the radio for self-recovery or tow-rope recovery. While there is a stuck or a refusal, everyone else supposed to be inside their car at all times. You can only take a bio-break during the drive, by requesting trip lead permission. Once the drive is over exit out to inflate by maintaining 10-20 meters distance from each other. While inflating, only the driver supposed to be out and with the face mask at all times. After the drive, you can talk on the radio for any feedback, suggestions or help you need.