Leaderboard

Thank you @Hisham Masaadfor an amazing drive. This was one of the best Intermediate drives i have been in @CarnityWaking up early in the morning and driving 1 hour to meeting point was just worth it. I know we could not do a Mad Max Plus as @Srikumarcould not make it and definitely everyone missed him. Everyone in the convoy drove exceptionally well. Yes there were few refusals in the start but surprisingly not on the big dunes. When everyone saw the the big dunes they unleashed their inner MAD MAX with hardly any refusals. Special mention @Fabien Monleau I remember last intermediate drive we drove with @Shaaz Shaat the same location and you had challenges with climbing the slopes but this drive you did exceptionally well without any issues. Seems like you have got the secret to tame the beauty. The sand was very soft making it difficult for the back of the convoy as they would get all churned sand. But the drives under the belt of each driver at the back of theconvoy shows how much experience they had and drove without any issues. Lastly @Hisham Masaadwe wanted more of the last part but a very good decision to end the drive at 9 am as it was getting hot. @ASAD. @Simon Dawood @Fabien Monleau @Waqas Parvez @Mohamad Anwer @Daniel Yang @Chris Wing @Ashok chaturvedi @Amir Amiri @Ranjan Das Thank you for being part of the amazing Convoy. See you soon guys.

Many thanks Dr @M.Seidamfor organizing such amazing drive on Friday night to ease the mental work stress accumulated during the work week. The night drive was truly intriguing and tested our patience and skills with multiple challenges that the convoy was able to overcome. @Dinesh Kumar A nice to meet you and hope you will be a regular again @Ashutosh Garg I hope you managed to get your car fixed @munkybizness @Zixuan Huang - Charlie @Ranjan Das @GregoryAmazing support from you guys @Joseph Raju @Simon Dawood It was nice to be driving with both you. Simon's lights gave me a lot of confidence as I have very clear vision ahead and the sides. @Tareq Al Turq @Haitham Khattab @Amr Aydin Good to be driving with you all as well. It was also a nice surprise and timely break for some dates for the extra energy. I wish Dr Seidam a great and healthy year ahead. The camaraderie of this convoy was great. The early morning drive home made me feel very accomplished and satisfied of a great night out in the desert.

Thanks for leading the group on another great morning out @JeromeFJ, it is always a pleasure to be part of your convoy! and thanks @Looper for ensuring the convoy was safe at the back. It was also good to meet some new faces @Emanuel @Zulfikhar Naiyar@FiNaR @takeshi sobue @Gerrit Busand also see some familiar ones @Suresh K @RiaanJH@Paolo Pellegrini. Although I have been driving mostly Fewbie+ and Intermediate lately, it is always nice to step back down to Newbie and Fewbie drives and encourage others to do the same every now and again. With a bit slower pace, it gives opportunity to learn not through doing, but observing. So, having done so, I wanted to share a brief summary. 1) Be careful where you stop . . . . especially as the sand is getting softer, positioning your car correctly when stopping is important to make sure when the convoy gets going again, we don't have multiple stucks. A few members had a few moments (including myself, requiring the first rope recovery of the day). Ideally, always try to stop on a flat or decline and not on a crest! 2) Self Recovery is encouraged at Carnity, and a key learning for us all. Although at times we took the rope out it was mainly due to the heat and the delayed start. Almost all the stucks the convoy faced could have been resolved with some more shoveling. @Emanuels was very close to self recovery from his cresting, and we were successful with @Zulfikhar Naiyar after he deflating his tyres further. 3) Momentum Momentum Momentum and gravity. After recovering @Emanuel, @Suresh K didn't have enough space to build the right momentum and by trying to steer up only slowed the car further resulting in a stuck. Here, it would have been better to have reversed more to start with, or looped round. This is all part of the learning process and you will get it right in the future. 4) Looping round and exiting earlier is not failure, and its something that carries no shame in the desert. At one point, I could see each car struggling a little bit more over one criss cross as the line got tracked. When it was @FiNaRs turn, as soon as his car lost momentum he immediately steered down, looped round and tried again. This resulted in no awkward stuck, no pop out and the convoy could continue without stopping. Well done. Thanks again @JeromeFJ for leading us and @Looper for the support!

Drive report Thank you very much everyone for signing up and turning up early morning, By 5.15 AM total of 8 cars deflated and rock and roll the desert. So we did our brief and head out towards the pink rock without any delay. I started with slow and pace so everyone can warmup their cars and muscles nicely. It was very good drive till pink rock without zero refusal or stuck. To my surprise there was little bit of high wind near to pink rock area which made the riding surface very soft. It was like we are riding the slip face of the dunes. But everybody did exceptionally well and we reached pink rock well before my target time. We scaled pink without any problem and crossed over to the east side of the pink rock and started our journey towards big red. at the beginning there were lot of cross tracks in this area after dodging the cross tracks then we are in medium range dunes where we manage to do lot of ridge riding and Criss cross. It was literally about 30 mins of continues ridge riding. Everybody did exceptionally well in this area as and I was like literally flying through the dunes. Also we covered high dunes of east side of big red before we reach big red. Everybody had their fair share of climbing experience before we took exit exactly at 9.00 AM In total we covered 50Km off road which is way more than what i expected. Well-done for everyone. Thank you @Thomas Varghese for your excellent support as second lead. A trusted friend behind me is always peace of mind. @Sam K you did exceptionally well and you managed your FJ like a pro. @Jonny90 you also did very well, during the first half of the drive you were like in learning stage and at the end you become a pro. Well done mate you are a quick learner. The presence of @Hisham Masaad was the biggest confidence for me. Thank you very much for being patient and giving me tips and tricks through out the drive. @Gurcharan Mehta and @Tom B the Landcruiser boys were in perfect sync. im amazed how you guys scaled all the high dunes like eating piece of cake. Well-done guys. @Sunil Mathew I didn’t here much from you in the radio until we reach the end. Now I know you enjoyed the drive is my pleasure. Final thank @Tom B for sweeping the convoy and keep everyone safe at the back. Sorry If your daughter didn’t get much time for her sand board. May be next time 😜 last but not least please share photos if you have to recollect our memories 🙏 Have a nice week ahead...

@Rizwanm2 thank you very much for a fantastic drive. Bar far the most challenging drive I’ve been on, loved all elements especially the ridge ridding, concentration levels were through the roof. I certainly have things to work on, especially climbing the big dunes. @Hisham Masaad apologies for you having to drive right behind me, I am sure it wasn’t the most elegant thing to watch. However thanks for taking the time to give me some very useful advise. @Tom B & @Sam K great to drive with you both, a real treat for me. @Thomas Varghese great to drive with you again. @Sunil Mathew @Gurcharan Mehta, great to meet you both! Thanks again @Rizwanm2

Thanks everyone for the great drive! It felt like FB+ to me most of the time, we have great drives there. See you next time!

we all been there my friend... dont worry you will master it in no time.. 👍

What a drive last night! Thank you @Kailas for the lead, thank you @Joji varghese, @Looper, @Pacific, @Rajiv Sam for support, and thank you EVERYONE for the great teamwork and fun! And thank you for your patience in the last hour of the drive

A dark indigo hue sets in across the night sky. Slicing through the middle, a string of white lights mark their way to the edge of a city known for its golden hues. Threading the needle of this dark night and this string of white pearls, thirteen wagons powered by thousands of horses, pull off the side. As night falls and a dewy moisture coats my skin, these thirteen metal boxes ditch the beaten path to tread into the wilderness. Unaided and only driven by the intrepid, these wagons form a new string of pearls. Glowing bright in the darkness, this string swirls and flows unlike the static path they’d left behind. Ahead of them only stretches the inky black night, above them a star studded spectacle, and behind them fly plumes of unsettled sand rising and falling quickly again. Such is the magnificence of a night drive. And once every revolution around the sun, the intrepid light leading this string has cause to not just celebrate the splendor of the night, but also a new revolution of life in years. As Offroaders, we’re so lost in the revolutions of our wheels, we often forget there is a cosmic revolution at play, and last night, we celebrated both - ours and that of Dr. @M.Seidam’s. Here’s wishing you an even more magical revolution around the Sun through the millions of revolutions for every distance you’ll take to get there. With the magic set aside, let me take this moment to recognize some of the shining beacons within this string. I feel a certain likeness every time I meet @Gregory. In his eyes sparkle the spirit of a good human being. And he carries that through with the care he extends across the entire chain. He exemplifies the lead in SL with much gusto. Elsewhere, at the end of this string, the childlike naughtiness of @Ranjan Das was pushing the chain forward like a child meandering his train through obstacles. In the middle, @Zixuan Huang - Charlie and his stoic demeanor keeps the string steady lest it fall apart in this darkness. These human contrasts are what make being a part of this string so rewarding. There are then the new pearls beginning to cast their glow and exemplifying their strength. @Joseph Raju, it was so refreshing to see another Y61 driving with care and good pace. As long as I saw those lights peek over the ridges in my rear view mirror, I knew I had nothing to worry about. Ahead of me, the inseparable young birds @Dinesh Kumar A & @Tareq Al Turq learning to take night flights (sorry, for stealing this metaphor @Ale Vallecchi), showed their exuberance. At times it caught them off guard, but they will come out of this with experience to boot. They say the roughest seas make the best sailors, and it is truly in this stead that we got to see the strength of this string of pearls. Key among them @Haitham Khattab, @topgear, @Amr Aydin& @Simon Dawood who not just put their brawn on display but also their ingenuity in the understanding of how levers work. Such is the magnificence of a night drive, that you see not just the magic of a strawberry hued Luna shining above, but also the immense ability that comes when so many lights shine together. Collectively, they solved challenges as big as the one @Ashutosh Garg had to face. In doing so, I left not just enriched by the experience but also the new knowledge of so many minds working together. Thank you all for a beautiful night. As we escaped back to golden hues of the city, these thoughts fogged up my mind, just like the ambiance I was now piercing through. See you all out on the sands soon [ 🐵 ]

Its only a suggestion which I hope @Carnity management will consider. As summer is at its peak and driving in the desert sands after 10am is very demanding I wish Carnity management will consider hosting drives in other areas of offroading in UAE like the mountains, Umm Al Qwain mangroves at least for FB+ drivers & above. After all offroading doesn't mean strictly driving on sands. Offroading means driving where no proper paths are available. Its only a proposal for the club to consider. Most of us are proficient on sands but other areas of offroading is still left out just for the pleasure of driving on sands and I wish the club will consider this to make us all a complete offroader.

The UNEVENTFUL DRIVE Drive started by 5.15am as when the lead arrived all the convoy was ready to move deflated and flags up. After a very short briefing @Shaaz Sha went on to lead as usual. It was straight adrenalin drive from the start. No warm ups and immediately into serious offroading. As an experienced driver I was thinking when will be the 1st refusal and thought within 10 min of start up as Shaaz went into his overdrive mode from the time he switched on his 4X4 dial. Surprisingly the convoy was made up of drivers with nerves of steel combined with careful and responsible driving techniques. Didn't hear anyone asking help for atleast 30 min into the drive. When the need arised Shaaz decided to hand over the responsibility to @Sudhanva Sonawane the freshly promoted CF for a tug which he executed like a ballet dancer. Precise instructions to the driver of the car being pulled and a gentle tug. Kudos @Sudhanva Sonawane. I appreciate the handing over of responsibility to him. There is a point where everybody has to learn and get experience. The convoy moved smoothly through all the challenges Shaaz had put forth sans some minor refusals here and there. @Imteeaz the sweep rose up to the occasion and handled the recoveries like a pro. Please bear in mind he is relatively new as a sweep. But he held up the responsibility Shaaz gave him and handled situations at the back like he knows it by heart. Nobody could be left behind under his watchful eyes at the very back. Congratulations @Imteeaz. I'm impressed. This made the task of the lead at the front much easier as he didn't have to go back to recover refusals himself 99% of the time. The instructions given were crystal clear and precise. The only time Shaaz and me had to reverse was when there was the pop outs. Pop outs 🤣. We had our share of pop outs in the drive. Just 2. Considering the challenges and the track I was thinking there would be minimum half a dozen. It all started with @Shaaz Sha's front left tire protested about the punishments he had been giving them since they were installed and decided enough is enough. There was a ply separation in the tire and it became flat. But Shaaz had his spare tire intact and spared no time installing it and was gone wroom. After that came the 2 pop outs. With a hefty 3 ton jack in our convoy and some able bodied men to do all the work the pop outs were fixed in less time than a professional tire shop would do. The drive extended upto 10.30am to reach the exit as the title of this drive mentioned, it was an uneventful drive. Pop outs, refusals, stucks were all dealt with how a professional desert convoy would do. None of this adversities can dampen the spirits of passionate offroaders. Even the blaring sun couldn't dampen our spirits. Thank you @Shahid Mehmood, @george charbel, @Ignacio Quindos, @TT_Dubai @Alfred Alinazar for joining the drive and giving me an opportunity to drive with you. See you soon in the desert.

Thank you @Shaaz Sha for leading the pack with a morning drive full of side sloping and other chances to practice our skills. The sand was very soft and there were a lot of switchbacks when coming down a dune to catch out the unwary. Hope your front left tyre is repairable. Great proactive support from @Sudhanva Sonawane as a solid CF and @Thomas Varghese for good instructional tips during pop outs and stucks. And our sweep @Imteeaz for keeping the convoy in check and to ensure no one got left behind. Some pics in the gallery. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Dear Desertnauts Few updates for tomorrow's drive. The MEETING POINT should be in the area just past the ADNOC gas station, where the Thai restaurant Spicy Village is located. Please, arrive at Qudra Last Exit's ADNOC gas station, enter it (top up your tank, as you are at it), and proceed through its exit. As soon as you have left the gas station's perimeter, you will find the meeting point to your left, on a dirt patch near a bike shop and the Thai restaurant. As you will see, the convoy has been extended to 10 cars (2 more "gipsies" will only make the drive more unpredictable and fun). The lune up will be as follows: @Ashok chaturvedi in Second Lead @Trekado at #3 @RiaanJH at #4 @Tareq Al Turq #5 @Senthil Kumar #6 @Anoop Nair as Center Forward @Alexanderrr at #8 @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler #9 @Lucky sAm #10 @Shaker as #11, and @JeromeFJ in Sweep No more needs to be said, other then we'll know where we start but won't know where we end. Most likely in the Emirate of Dubai.... but who knows ?!

Hello @Thomas Varghese @Shahid Mehmood @george charbel @Ignacio Quindos @Lucky sAm @TT_Dubai @Sudhanva Sonawane @Alfred Alinazar @Imteeaz. Apologies for the delay in posting the convoy order. Below is the convoy order for tomorrow and we will be using carnity channel 2(44603125) for our communications. See you guys tomorrow

Let’s admit it, the drive this morning was a bit frustrating. It is very rare to have the fog for so long in the morning. And a fog so thick that it prevents driving. So here we were, this morning, after a short night, extending the briefing until we cleared the very last question, and repeated again not to fight gravity. Despite the thick fog we were in, I decided to start moving, and at least reach the moon lake (moon pond could be more appropriate, but much less evocative). GPS is a beautiful tool, and I had to brake just before diving in ! After another 15min around the lake, watching the birds, fog was still there, preventing to access the tall dunes close to the lake. thinking that the lakes maybe were holding more fog, I decided to leave the area to come closer to Ghantoot, our objective for the day. We reached the oryx farm just in time to see the oryxes just being fed, coming out of their fence, running into the dunes and vanishing in the fog. And still, despite a bit of blue sky above us, we had to wait another 20 min to have enough visibility. Finally we could enter the dunes, to find difficult conditions, where the soft sand of the area was soaked with humidity, and heavy below our wheels. We did not have a proper warmup, and arriving straight in this difficult environment was not easy. The dunes are narrow, the crests sharp, and deep pockets of sand are everywhere, even on the flat portions. We had some nice rolling parts, ending suddenly in a steep succession of narrow bowls. Each of you did very well, including for the recoveries during the inevitable stucks. All of them where resolved with a combination of shovelling, self recoveries, a few tugs, and a great team spirit, under the efficient guidance of @Looper and @Rob S. But with the heat building up, and the humidity still so high, each shovelling part was becoming a real physical effort. And we were already at the planned exit time ! I decided to shorten this Ghantoot portion to reach the pylon track and the sabkha and to cross in direction of the Bab Al Shams road. This last portion was hiding a few surprises, with these long cordon of dunes perpendicular to our way, of course slip faces against us! Navigating through the vegetation, and crossing one dune after the other, we reached the tarmac by 10 am. @Paolo Pellegrini thank you for the excellent 2nd lead, stopping in time when I was ending in a dead end, or when crossing a dune, I was facing rocks just below my wheels. @Emanuel, well done in this difficult terrain, you become more and more confident. @Suresh K I can see your progression drive after drive, you gained a lot of confidence, and it reflect on your driving. @Zulfikhar Naiyar well done also, you had a difficult stuck, the front and the back touching the edges of a bowl, and managed well to recover after shovelling and reducing the tire pressure. @FiNaR for your first Fewbie, it was not an easy one, and manoeuvring the F150 in the tight dunes was not easy. You did very well, using sometime of that power that is available. @Rob S great support as usual. Your own driving is totally under control in this environment, and you are always there to spot a car in difficulty and to actively support recoveries. Thank you. @takeshi sobue amazing progress since last time we drove together. The FJ is now under control, and I’m sure you enjoy the drives. It was a pleasure to have you with your family. @Gerrit Bus no issue at all, despite the churned tracks at the back of the convoy. Very good control of the Gladiator. @RiaanJH very well driven also, you are ready for your first FB + anytime! @Looper thank you for the sweep and the support on the recoveries. Having you at the back was very confortable for me ! enjoy the rest of the weekend, and definitely we have to go back to complete the full stretch of the Ghantoot dunes !

@Rizwanm2 Congratulations for your very successful first lead. Pleasure to be in your drive, with a very nice capable team. Track was mix of every thing off-roader might look at to test and evaluate his car power, and his knowledge of how to handle these situations. I am sure few of the drivers left the drive and looking for another one, where he will again test what he has went through during the drive. @Sam K and @Jonny90 pleasure meeting you for the first time, and happy to see how did you managed to navigate and go through the tracks, amazing and well done. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼. @Gurcharan Mehta glad to see you again with your sun, who’s performing amazing copilot and secretary jobs 😅. @Sunil Mathew good to see you again. Thank you @Thomas Varghese for being SL, hope your daughter enjoyed and feeling better now. @Tom B as usual perfect SW, and happy to see your daughter enjoying and shoveling 💪🏼. Look forward to see you again in sand

Good afternoon all, Here is the convoy list for the drive. 1. @Kailas-L 2. @Joji varghese-SL 3. @Yerem Davtyan 4. @Looper-CF-1 5. @Andrei S 6. @Pacific-CF-2 7. @JDub 8. @Daniel Rodas 9. @Waqar Sarwar 10. @Andrew McCarthy 11. @Rajiv Sam- SW We will be on channel 1. We will be ensuring that everyone wears a mask when ever stepping out and taking breaks. See you all shortly.