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TRIP REPORT Pick Rock is one of my favorite areas for Newbie and Fewbie drives and hence there is always a lot of excitement which makes me want to reach early. Everyone made it on time barring a couple of guys who came in about 5 minutes late. An important point for everyone is that once you have crossed the stage of Absolute Newbie you need to get the minimum gear which is specified for the Newbie rank. This is not optional but a Mandatory requirement. Also please test or practice using your gear before the drive. This is out of pure courtesy to the rest of the member's time. We started off entering from the 2nd December cafeteria which gave everyone the chance to try scale Pink Rock in the cooler weather. The Newbies who had completed 4 drives with Carnity were given the opportunity and they made the most of it. There was a little bit of fishtailing on the first attempt which they corrected in the second and third attempt. After playing for about 30 minutes, we moved in the direction of Big Red. The red sand during sunrise is an amazing view especially if you get on top of one of the higher dunes. Makes it absolutely worth getting up so early in the morning. @topgear was my second lead. He did wonderfully well in keeping the necessary distance and communicating clearly with me on the radio. @Newton Rozario was my sweep and it was nice to hear the continuous communication from his side about the convoy position which is very essential in big convoys. @Sreejith Sreenivasan in his LR2 for me was a revelation. Other than a pop-out which took about 10 minutes to fix, he drove extremely well in many areas that I felt he wouldn't be able to make it. Well done. @Ammar Naji with the mighty Ford Expedition has improved a lot from his first AN drive and is able to harness the power of his V8 in a better manner. One advice is that when you are in a stuck position, too much of gas doesn't help especially in your car as with the weight you will dig in fast. You need to keep the gas at 1500 rpm max when you are trying to self recover. It was great to see the team effort put in by everyone to help shovel during that one stuck towards the end of the drive. @Vineeth John Joseph was probably the quietest guy in the entire convoy and with just a couple of refusals managed very well through the entire drive. Nicely done buddy. The wrangler boys @Vijaysekhar @Taha Elghuel @h1fny @Neale Faulkner @Onlyjunaid @Jeandre Bezuidenhout @Hennie Schoeman glided and sailed through most of the dunes with the utmost of ease. Good job. Special mention to @Nivin who supported the drive and was actively involved in all the recoveries and helping the other drivers when needed. Thank you. For me, it was personally a near Perfect Newbie drive where we covered some good ground through the dunes in some nice weather. See you next weekend.

Thanks all, loving the adventure so far. Still loads to learn, so already looking forward to next weekend. This picture of my new partner and I sums up what it's all about 😍Credit to Craig @h1fny for being a decent photographer 😂

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.

As we have been respecting authorities guidance & Carnity COVID guidelines to resume desert drives with caution by keeping social distance and wearing mask at all times outside the vehicle Unfortunately few off-roaders have difficulty in understanding and abiding these guidelines. As published in the national newspaper of UAE, everyone need to understand that still there are no gatherings allowed and authorities are issuing fine for 10,000 AED for host and 5,000 AED for attendees. https://gulfnews.com/uae/health/people-caught-violating-covid-19-safety-instructions-prosecuted-1.1591381059748 If you spot anyone stepping out of the car not wearing a mask, please remind them on the radio immediately. As we all are in this together, so we all have to help each other to remind. Failing to abide below list of restriction will result in an immediate ban from Carnity Off-road Club: FIRST WARNING Minimum 1 month ban from joining any Carnity off-road Club drives. Written warning will be issued on your Carnity profile. SECOND WARNING Minimum 6 month ban from joining any Carnity off-road Club drives. Written warning will be issued on your Carnity profile. If you do not like these restrictions, please stay at home and do not join for any off-road drives. Every Carnity Off-road Club Member has to COMPLY WITH THESE COVID19 GUIDELINES FACE MASK IS MANDATORY, WHENEVER YOU STEP OUT - NO EXCUSES. LEARN TO CONFIGURE YOUR RADIO, before the drive. Nobody will teach you or exchange radios like before. Read the detailed instructions posted here - to configure. If you still cannot configure, ask on forum ahead of time. Click "TOTALLY AGREE" Emoji here before RSVP any drive or else trip lead will remove your name.

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 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 Offroader 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: 14 Aug 2020, Friday. Meeting time: 5:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Action Plan: Long range dunes, side cresting, principles of ridge riding and crossing, in an environment dotted with beautiful lone trees Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/y8TL2hpPpVGwwmhR8 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: 09:00 AM THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. WE WILL STARTING AND ENDING THE DRIVE AT THE SAME 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 10 Fewbie and above drivers. 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. 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 @Mukundan Nair for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Based on your last newbie drive you have demonstrated skills required deserving this new offroad rank. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Once you have all the required off-road gear, you are most welcome to join the Fewbie Level Drives with Carnity Off-road Club. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Number of drives 10 (16 Newbie + Fewbie drives) Level of drives Willingness to learn + Enthusiasm + Basic dune reading Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor. Drive teamwork Observe recovery from a safe distance and offer help when needed Drive posting/joining Join newbie and fewbie level of drives only Forum participation Active participation on forum. Share drive experience + feedback on forum and pictures in gallery Forum participation and helping with community spirit is recommended for faster upgrades at all levels. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the Emergency contact details.

Congratulations @Neale Faulkner for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Based on your last newbie drive you have demonstrated skills required deserving this new offroad rank. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Once you have all the required off-road gear, you are most welcome to join the Fewbie Level Drives with Carnity Off-road Club. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Number of drives 10 (16 Newbie + Fewbie drives) Level of drives Willingness to learn + Enthusiasm + Basic dune reading Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor. Drive teamwork Observe recovery from a safe distance and offer help when needed Drive posting/joining Join newbie and fewbie level of drives only Forum participation Active participation on forum. Share drive experience + feedback on forum and pictures in gallery Forum participation and helping with community spirit is recommended for faster upgrades at all levels. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the Emergency contact details.

Attention all Carnity Explorers! @Mehmet Volga @Rajeevan Vickneswaran @Janarthan @Kalahari @Shiju Manuel @Jorge Stepniak Felippe @Najeeb Mohammed @Tbone, @Biju Abdul and @Jeandre Bezuidenhout thank you for joining this drive, on Friday morning. Since a few of you are either brand new or relatively new Fewbie drivers, I would like to reiterate, for all, the tools you will be required to carry with you for this drive. It's a MUST to have 1) a proper shovel, 2) a compressor and MOST OF ALL, rated tow points both front and back. The lack of these items will inevitably lead to the driver being sent back from the deflation point. I am trying to make this point clear early on in the week to allow anyone who may not have these required items to equip themselves with them. While a shovel and a compressor are easily available respectively at any Speedex and Dragon Mart, the tow hooks are usually already mounted on most 4x4 cars. Just assure yourselves that they are in good conditions (not rusty, or loosely bolted), and make sure they are visible and accessible (in case of cars where the tow points are hidden behind the fender). The importance of this particular equipment is paramount in case of the need to recover the car, and not having the tow hooks both in good conditions and accessible will be reason enough to ask the driver to exit the drive from the start. Having said this, I will get back to you with more information on the drive as we get closer to Friday morning. I wish all of you a great week.

I believe safety by all means is goal number one in all aspects of life and in the COVID-19 time this is becoming even more important . It’s still there but with little percussion , yet strict every one still can enjoy at ease. drive safe and keep healthy. mohamed

Thanks for some good runs @Srikumar! Pink Rock was a favourite. More to come... Indeed @Wrangeld ... should be fun! There's a good squad of Wranglers. @Mels Wolf says they never get stuck...

Dear fellow Carnity drivers. In preparation for the drive, knowing that there will be many newly promoted Fewbies eager to test themselves at this higher level, I would like to introduce you to the drive’s nature and driving focuses. The area of Al Faqa is the north-eastern extension of the Qudra basin, bordering with Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain province. We will visit its northern reaches, entering from a tarmac road just before the main Faqa exit. The main features of this part of Faqa are long ranges of open dunes, starting to get a bit tighter and more technical moving east toward Al Ain, with a wide open sabkha stretching parallel to our playground, to the east, toward Solar Park. The northern limit of this Faqa area is dotted with beautiful gnarly trees, mostly lonely, but at times bunched in small groves, for which I have chosen to call it “the arboretum”. We will drive south-west into the long-range dunes, test ourselves a bit in the tighter dune area, then cross the sabkha and another range of low dunes, before heading toward Solar Park. We will focus on side sloping but will also spend some time going through the main elements of ridge crossing, and of course practicing them, whenever safe. In order to get more familiar with these skills, you may read Dune Crossing Tutorial and Techniques, on the Carnity Off-Road Club’s page. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing on Friday at dawn all those who will decide to join. Have a great week.

Congratulations @Frederik Bisbjerg. You will do very well considering " Fred's" in this group are excellent !! @Frederic & @Febin Frederic

Congrats @Neale Faulkner I look forward to driving with you some time soon. Enjoy the promo - the fun only starts to build from here.

Congrats @h1fny!!!

congrats @Mukundan Nair!!!

congrats @Jeandre Bezuidenhout !!!

@Jeandre Bezuidenhout Congrats!!

Congrats @Neale Faulkner !!

congrats @Neale Faulkner!!

congrats @Tero Vallas!!!

congrats @Mukundan Nair

Congrats @Jeandre Bezuidenhout.

Congrats @Neale Faulkner. Well done. The real fun begins from now.

Congrats @Tero Vallas

Congratulations @Tero Vallas👍

Congratulations @Neale Faulkner 👍

Congrats @Sreejith Sreenivasan, have fun in the sand..

Congrats @Jeandre Bezuidenhout, keep flying the Rubicon🤪

Congrats @Sreejith Sreenivasangood going. 👍

Congrats @Neale Faulkner well done.

Congrats @Jeandre Bezuidenhout

Congrats @Sreejith Sreenivasan

We have at least three members with the Y62 that I can think of and all of them enjoy the power and comfort that it offers. They have all done modifications to the cars as well to deal with the inevitable damage if you do not. Definitely not too heavy for the dunes - unless you are talking about the cost on your pocket. If you've got it, why not flaunt it.

Well done @Frederic for taking so much time to share this great off-road knowledge. Very well explained and documented with perfect diagrams and videos. Only thing I like to add for all new offroaders, learn and follow above instructions to the max but never fight the gravity. If you had a bad feeling for any side sloping, criss crossing attempt, exit safely and make another attempt rather than fighting the gravity. Small deviation of track can also cause lot of difficulty and push the car to the soft patch, in that case simply accept the defeat and exit down without fighting with mother nature. Even experienced offroader do have refusal and repeat without any hesitation, that's the real fun and challenge of offroading.

i will be coming from abudhabi. If there are enough people for the trip in abudhabi I will do the trip in abudhabi but it seems that there are not many abudhabi people in town to go for that trip. At the moment still 0. pancho

@Frederic Hey can u please add me to the wait list thank you looking

Awesome post @Frederic, every time I read this topic I gather more information. Thank you !

@Jeandre Bezuidenhout congratulations!!

congratulations !!

Hi @Gaurav I am currently using Maxxis (on road preferred) tyres since a few years and was planning to change tyres after a newbie drives. Just last week I am being promoted to Fewbie and was planning to post my query for a good tyres in our forum as suggested by @Emmanuel I am happy to read all these old posts about the same. I already had eyes on Yokohama geo lander after seeing @Srikumar and now more than convinced to go with Yokohama Geolander A/T-S I am not able to find a good party to buy and get it fixed and also get wheel alignment done. It would be great if any suggestion of a good one cost effective but who knows the stuff. I want to do this before this Friday drive. Suggestions welcome please.

Congrats Craig.

congrats @Frederik Bisbjerg

Congrats @Jeandre Bezuidenhout looking forward to seeing you in the sand soon.

Congrats @Tero Vallas. Enjoy your new status to the full

Congrats @Mukundan Nair !!

Congratulations @Mukundan Nair 👍🏼

Congratulations @Neale Faulkner on your promotion 👍🏼

Please click on "Totally Agree" Emoticon on down right white heart icon - 3rd option from right is "Totally Agree" when you hoover over (on desktop) or click (mobile) on white heart icon.

this is very well put @Frederic. A good guide for newbies to understand the technical details of dune bashing. I will refer this thread to newbies who are interested in understanding the dune bashing techniques.