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Thank you to everyone for making this a fantastic morning ride. We commenced our drive a few minutes, and I apologize for keeping you all waiting; it happened since I missed a gas station on the way and had to backtrack all the way. After deflating, @Looper announced the convoy order, and we were all in on the action. The radio was quiet for around 15 minutes and returned to life when I had a refusal. It seemed more like an enjoyable fun drive with essential characteristics for an Im drive. The drive was eventful as explained by @Thomas Varghese. We were fortunate today with cloudy sky and low temperature. I believe each of us had some memorable experiences in todays drive. Thank you @Thomas Varghese for the detailed drive report. Thanks to @Ranjan Das for you watchful second lead as always and thanks to @Looper for sweeping us and for the support and help . It was a pleasure to meet and drive with @Mus_hus78 and me @Ranjan Das, @Simon Dawood and @Mus_hus78 had enough time to discuss many global issues today. 😄 Guys thank you for the wondeful. time . i hope you guys had enough fun today. @Zed you were superb with your y62 and managed your best very well. @Tom B..bro it was your learning day and i believe you had master class in recovery..😜. @Mohamad Anwer the LC70 champ..it was nice to see you making the most from faqa and sorry about you tire bro. The cool champ @Matt.T and the silent boy @Anoop Nair...happy to meet you guys after some time and enjoyed the drive and chats with you. @Ashok chaturvedi..thank you soo much for you support in recovering the LC and it was a pleasure meeting you after so long. @Asad..the last minute entry.. you did well with your prado and hope you had a good day. I tried adding you to the drive last night ..but cudnt do it.. i will check with @Frederic on how to do it and will update your drive record. Thank you guys once again for the treat in faqa before my holidays and hope see you guys after two months break.

As @Shaaz Sha mentioned the first fifteen minutes of the drive had a complete radio silence, something must have broken with the radio I thought, but soon it came to life and did not stop till the end. It was a cloudy morning and a good day to have some pop outs and refusals - so we thought and @Thomas Varghese was in a hurry drafting the drive report in his mind after a couple of pop outs; one of which needed a tire change for @Mohamad Anwer and one for @Thomas Varghese where his huge 3 ton jack was put to good use both times and then @Anoop Nair's car gave a mild shock when it refused to start for a brief moment. At that moment I told him not to hurry by announcing the conclusions already lest it jinx the drive as we were not near to the end. And soon enough @Tom B had quite a scare. Good for @Tom B that after a brief moment of adrenaline rush, he calmed down. I too had an experience with such a recovery when I was supporting my first drive as support staff with @M.Seidam and had an idea what needs to be done. I and @Ashok chaturvedi tethered the vehicle with our winches as @Tom B gradually corrected the angle and brought the car down to ground, with guidance from @Shaaz Sha. It ended with a battle scar that he can be proud of which was fixed with some duct tape naturally. Overall, it was the day for the Pajero-s of @Simon Dawood and @Mus_hus78 who were just chugging along and however much everyone tried to jinx them they were not going down and had a perfect drive. Pajero Power! @Mohamad Anwer had a rather unusual day with a crest and a pop out due to the side wall being torn. Thanks to @Ashok chaturvedi for having all the tools and @Matt.T for putting all the torque that was needed to fix them. Also wishing a speedy recovery for your wife. @Ranjan Das was a fantastic 2nd lead in his recently upgraded Jeep. It's always nice to see @Matt.T with his Jeep and how effortlessly he drives it on any terrain. @Anoop Nair wanted more than one Looper sticker it seemed - but I will get you only one as doing extra loops does not get you more. I was at the end observing @Ashok chaturvedi and @Thomas Varghese navigate churned up tracks quite impressively, leaving them done a bit more for me to cross. A big thanks to @Shaaz Sha for quite a drive. Uneventful you say @Thomas Varghese, which was anything but.

Great write-up @Thomas Varghese . I just want to thank everyone in the convoy for helping safely recover me and my LC yesterday. Everyone mucked in, with @Shaaz Shaand @Looper demonstrating expert leadership skills. The desert certainly has a knack of humbling us. I am annoyed with myself for ending up in such a precarious position. A combination of fast pace and very soft sand on those slips faces required razor sharp reaction times. I simply didn’t react quick enough on this particular slip face as I started to lose momentum. The feeling as the vehicle momentarily lifted up on the far side before coming to a rest is one I sincerely hope I don’t experience again! Clearly still plenty to learn, but at the same time it’s events like this that demonstrate the great team ethos of @Carnity and the skill and experience the leads and support team possess.

Well so much has been said for this trip and some have written good legit reviews here, but i'll add my 2cents anyways just to keep this thread at the top 🤣 Initially the words "Exploration" and "Intermediate" intrigued us, so much so that it lured me (and possibly another Abu Dhabian @Mus_hus78) to come out from my comfy summer hibernation 😅 When the venue changed to Faqa, i told myself "lucky i had front+rear bumper trimmed and front+rear steel skid plates installed!" I remembered Gaurav telling us something always happens in Faqa while we were entering the initial technical dunes. My second Faqa drive was with Angela where we... uhmm, surf 🏄‍♂️ & fly ✈️ on the dunes close to Abu Dhabi border ☺️ I prepared to support @Looper as he was center-forward in the original list, but when Hisham couldn't make it and Looper was moved to keep the mighty ducks in-line from behind, i had to be ready in case anyone needs support from middle-to-front. Alas it was already a good convoy! first one for refusal was @Mohamad Anwer's crested at high dune, but from my view it looked like a bit of shovelling and blip-blip to the right will invite gravity and pull his Lightweight LC70 down. Great self-recovery 👍🏻 Second one was @Tom B to be crested also, but again constant left-right-left-right rowing in the sand helped the V8 boat escaped downhill 👍🏻 Third was @Ranjan Das to be crested, but @Simon Dawood managed to tug him down. Fourth was @Shaaz Sha to be crested but Ranjan pulled him down in a blitz. So with no support needed from the middle, all I could do was take photos of these events 😂 (see the gallery) I do have a blame to share though: as a V8 LC owner driving a V6 Patrol (aptly called "DragonMart Patrol by @Srikumar) , I was sure the V8 LC200 behind me could handle any obstacle thrown at it. In hindsight, I should have talked and warned more on the radio, especially when making early exits down. No matter what, the @Tom B's LC200 was following my track... maybe my car was drifting sand at him, maybe he didn't see me exiting early down, maybe he didn't realize i made it to the ridge at 6000rpm, things happened so fast that i only realized something is amissed when i didn't see the V8 LC in my rearview mirror, and that dreadful radio call "LC stuck on a slope". When I looped down to see the car from the flat ground, that stuck position was really really tricky... i followed the 2 Winchers Looper & Ashok in case they needed additional support and to watch the recovery in close to learn from it. Overall it was a good fun drive. It extended well over 9am but that was because of the extra time needed to fix numerous stucks and pop-outs. @Mohamad Anwer hope speedy recovery for your wife and @Ashok chaturvedi hope your appointment was ok to reschedule. Good to see some friends and familiar faces too: @Ranjan Das: was in Liwa or Gaurav's Faqa drive last time @Mus_hus78: we need to restart our Abu Dhabi club again! @Looper: saw you in numerous drives already, but the one I remembered vividly is the unofficial drives 😅 @Matt.T: last time it was in Anish's Lisaili drive, great to see you transforming into a support role 👍🏻 @Anoop Nair: long time no see buddy! I still call your Jeep yellow although you corrected me many times it's not yellow 😂 @Ashok chaturvedi: good to have a fatherly figure in our convoy, now i know why i hear good things about you 😊 @Thomas Varghese: there's not a boring moment without you man, reminds me of the CB radio craze in the 80's 😂

@Shaaz Sha thanks for the drive and for stepping in when @M.Seidam had to drop out of the lead (hope you are feeling better Doc?) Was an interesting drive with some unusual events though were all dealt with professionally and in good humour as one team. @Looper great work as sweep and well done @Ranjan Das as 2nd lead. I wont mention everyone as dont want to get in trouble for missing a Pajero or something! 🤣 Good effort everyone and see you all in the sand soon. Ps @Shaaz Sha can you fit in an Abu Dhabi drive this Sunday before your vacation?

Great drive @Shaaz Sha, lots of learning on as you mentioned and thats the beauty of any sports. It was wonderful to be amongst such experienced driver especially @Looper our sweep, @Ranjan Das,@Ashok chaturvedi & @Thomas Varghese. @Thomas Varghese always nice to listen to you and read your report. But you didnt mention me. Just because the Prado had a relatively uneventful drive doesnt mean u ignore altogether 😂 @Tom B was a pleasure following u, u were brilliant and remained calm in a tricky situation. Its imp u reflect on what went wrong but get the event out of your system and not let it affect your driving next time. Hope to see u soon. @Mohamad Anwer i hope the Mrs is well now, wish her a speedy recovery. To the rest of the gang, was great meeting you all. Hope to catch up with you next time.

Thank you everyone for a wonderful evening. Yes, the drive and terrain was challenging which got further compounded with a longish convoy. In such pyramid shaped dune formations keeping the right distance becomes even more paramount else one can easily loose the track. @munkybizness was mentioning to me a small trick which I wish to share with all the drive participants - As a SL in the pyramid dunes he would ensure that he would closely follow my track and reach the top of the dune before I would crisscross. By doing that he would be able to see in which direction I had crossed over. So it means he was driving a lot closer in the pyramid dunes with an additional focus. Driving in the dark requires a different driving style than during the day and the more you practice the better you will become. As @Looper rightly mentioned, the convoy started getting the hang of drive style in the second half of the drive and the result was a smoother convoy movement. Thank you once again and look forward to driving with you all on another Night Drive.

Don't be annoyed @Tom B. You provided us with an opportunity to practice what @Gaurav taught us and pass on to new drivers the skills needed very much. Situations like this happen when you do an extreme sport like desert driving. It could have been anyone in the convoy including me in that situation. The most important thing in these situations is give up all your intuitions on what to do. 1st thing 1st is immediately shut off the engine and wait for instructions from the team lead and others in the convoy without panicking. You did great in all the 3 areas. By the grace of God we tackled the situation with ease and you and your car came down unharmed and we continued our drive.

Thanks @Matt.T I am better than ever . And well done for all the help towards your fellow drivers 🙏

Quite an adventure, with guys getting lost in the dark night in the high dunes, but towards the 2nd half of the drive everyone got the hang of it and kept close to one another and unrelenting pace with @Srikumar's crazy night shenanigans a night to remember for all. Thank you @munkybizness for your excellent 2nd lead and @Ashok chaturvedi for your duties at the back as sweep. I & @GauravSoni did notice a UFO later that night 😜. The UFO was quite bright and looked like a bright bird of prey and it faded away as it left the earth towards the alpha quadrant. Later a moon appeared in its place shrouded in clouds.

With the summer in full swing, the time is right to hit the home turf of Sweihan for a fast paced Night Drive. This is a call out to all the big boys of the Carnity Offroad Club to join me in a new episode of the Sweihan Night Adventures. We will find bowls, long sideys, ridges and criss-cross dunes in the Night's darkness with only our headlights to guide us through. So drivers, Start your engine!!! General Info 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 Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Intermediate and Above When: 2 July 2022, Saturday Meeting time: 10:00 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/cSgEY7dNvs4VPV7Q9 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: 02:00 AM, Sunday THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS DRIVE UNLESS YOU HAVE A COMPRESSOR. ANYONE ARRIVING AT THE DRIVE WITHOUT A COMPRESSOR, FLAG, PROPER SHOVEL AND DEFLATION KIT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE DRIVE. ALL TOW POINTS WILL BE CHECKED BEFORE DEPARTURE. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Saturday - 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 THE BELOW IN THE EVENTS CALENDAR

You need formula 1 driver reaction

Thanks for the awesome drive @Srikumar, this is my second FB+ night drive with you and it totally lived up to the expectations, and even more! Still remember the sound of the side airbags popping in a car in front during the first 5 mins of our Sweihan Adventures, my wife was adamant to turn back at this point but I managed to convince her 🤣🤣 Luckily nothing too extreme this time, but what an adventure! Big thanks to everyone on the team for keeping up the pace, and despite us finishing up late and me turning up home around 5.30am (its a long drive back to AD), was smiling the whole next day remembering excitement from the drive and my little mishaps. Thanks again, and see you on the next drive!

Epic Drive tribe from lead @Shaaz Sha to our sweep @Looper….. great cloudy day 😎 didn’t need to take out my sunglasses 🕶🤓….thanks everyone for supporting each other all the way to exit point …… @Zed we need to get along with more biryani drives once this covid restrictions are gone 😋…..

HIIT. A common acronym on posters of gyms that are constantly staring at me to get into better shape. Alas, I walk right past and into the seat of my gas guzzler. Why should I be subjecting my legs to the intensive interval training when I can effect the same from a hundred and some horses. That's what driving @Srikumar's FB+ drive felt like to me: High Intensity. Interval Training. We arrived at the meeting point, in complete darkness not just from the night that had quickly fallen around us but also of the convoy order. Hoping to not have to keep up with Sri, I was expecting myself to get a middle berth somewhere down the middle. I even had my windshield tinted in the hopes that a less than perfectly clear view would help aid him in putting me further back. All of my plans failed as Sri repeated to me "aap second aa jao" (you should come in second). It's not that I don't want to drive in the second lead spot with Sri. For any adrenaline junkie, this is exactly where you want to be - in the hot seat, right behind our very own "Maverick". Except, on a rollercoaster, you're just a passenger. Here, you need to scale up and match his movements. And that's where the real fear and thrill is. We went in to Area 53 hunting for close encounters of the third kind, but I went into it, chasing a UFO that itself darted from corner to corner in pitch darkness like it was powered by something extraterrestrial. In one of the stops, @Vaibhavand @Waqas Parvezasked me what it felt like up front. I replied, "like a rollercoaster". Because, that's exactly what it was. And I'm never going to ask for any other seat. From the second turn, he was riding ridges climbing up the pyramids. And I just tried to hold on and like the Top Gun exercises, did my best to just keep him in my sights. If it meant pushing with complete abandon, I did just that. And boy, what a thrill it was. To everybody else in the back, I can only imagine what keeping up in the short undulating, always ascending dunes of Area 53 would feel like. It's a constant thrill ride that tested every driver out there. Thank you @Ashok chaturvedi for ensuring we left nobody behind. And we were fortunate to have @GauravSoni in the middle driving new FB+ drivers through to stay connected to the chain. I do want to commend @AlexMfor his impeccable line in keeping up. As I tried my level hardest to not lose sight of Sri, he was always there, just a few paces behind me. And in some moments when he saw me struggling over ridges and in soft patches, he course corrected beautifully. I wish I had more to say about the rest of the convoy. I have some vivid memories from seeing the chain of lights snaking up and down the pyramids. And boy, was it a sight to behold. See you all out on the sands again soon. This time too, in pitch darkness. But this time for a more intense cardio training program. Not of our legs, but of the horses powering us on. [ 🐵 ]

@SrikumarThank you for an amazing drive. Lots of refusals means good learning experience for everyone. @Ashok chaturvedi thank you for taking care of the back. @munkybizness SL King!

Thanks @Srikumar for leading us through the dunes in the night! what an experience! As my first proper night drive, I learnt quickly how easy it is to lose the track and a need to follow the car in front much closer, while still making sure to do it safely. tough learnings, and big thankyou to @Ashok chaturvedi for looking after us at the back when we got detached from the rest of the convoy! Looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

@ASAD. thanks for your kind words I am doing fine just waiting to turn green 😅 . I see your name already on the RSVP I guess it was added already either by @Shaaz Sha or @Frederic . Only one thing remove your self from the wait list as no one can remove it except you .

No worries @Thomas Varghese & @Looper was just joking about me being invisible 😂. maybe @M.Seidam can still add me since he created the drive. Would be good to have it counted 😊. Doc hope you are feeling well and hopefully will see u in the next drive.

Really sorry @ASAD.. As @Looper mentioned I was looking at the convoy list too to thank everyone. Thanks for helping me out with the pop out. By the way you had such an uneventful drive. Never heard you on the radio seeking assistance. Well done buddy.

Out of sight out of mind. @ASAD. I too forgot to mention how nicely you drove because i was looking at the convoy list to mention the names - and yours wasn't on it. Well Done buddy and thanks for the help with @Thomas Varghese pop out as well.

gonna put an Apple Air Tag on your Jeep during briefing, then launch the app Find My Marshal 😁

To all those who have signed up for the drive, I feel its only fair that I warn you guys upfront - That in IM drives I don't look at the rear view mirror and either way I am night blind.... Good Luck boys!!

Regardless of writing a script to register myself at exactly 7pm everytime @Srikumar's name is mentioned, I failed to register as #1... now I need to upgrade to 1000Mbps home Internet 😅 (not sure if anyone remembers IRC war back in the old days)...

Congratulation @Jaro Tuzinsky!!! All the best buddy!

@Rob S @Srikumar Appreciate Rob your comments, it was an honor for me to be the sweep that night and great experience. I am amazed how Sri sir handled it and twice could locate us, proves beyond a doubt that our marshals and senior leads are true experts. Incidentally, I am looking for a night vision device but how do I see over the dunes...

Well done @Jad Moussalli! Things get interesting here

Congratulations @Jaro Tuzinsky! Enjoy the new level

Congrats @Jad Moussalli, well deserved!!

WouI would like to join you @Asif Hussainbut will confirm soon. Always a pleasure

I can vouch for that @Srikumar, have been 2Lead in two of your IM drives. Hope the rear break lights are working...

Congratulations @Jad Moussalli well done and i am looking forward another fun day together:)

munkybizness is my mIRC handle

I made it.... phew 😓

Congratulations @Jad Moussalli you make the dunes look pile of dust!! Enjoy your new level. 👊👍.

Congrats @Jad Moussalliwell done. Enjoy the new level.

Well done @Jad Moussalli, Congratulations

Congratulations Jaro@@@

Congratulations @Jad Moussallion the promotion

@Looper yeah how can I forget that lovely short convoy drive looping solar park 😉 .

Dear Sand Sailors Super soft sand, surprisingly bearable weather, herds of gazelles cheering us up through the route - we had it all to make it a fun drive and thanks to the awesome pack of drivers, that's how it turned out to be. Drive went in so smooth that if not for Gaia, i wouldn't have believed that we covered around 72Km at an average moving speed of 24kmph through this mix of long range, tech and bushy terrain. Well done all 👍 @RiaanJH - perfect SL, maintained a very good distance and responded to calls promptly.. Thanks for your support . @george charbel very nicely driven. This wasnt an easy drive - small convoy with very diverse experience and a different than usual terrain. You handled it all pretty well and ofcourse we saw a perfect case of how much difference right deflation can make to a drive experience. Very well done especially on those self recoveries..👍 @Sam K apart from couple of small refusals almost a perfect drive for you. @takeshi sobue nothing in this drive could have challanged your FJ150 😂 Was fun to hear it roar. Though at times it made me think - was it really required for it to roar today? A bit more focus on right lines and carrying forward the momentum can take it to another level. @Haitham Khattab very nicely swept 👍 thanks a lot for your support. Thanks @JeromeFJ for joining in and sharing your experience and knowledge through the drive. Thanks all for a lovely morning, looking forward to see you all soon. Next week, m planning the drive around Lisali - the long range side of it (not the usual tech that Lisali is known for) - so if interested watch out for the calendar post on monday 7pm. Some stats from today's drive for all who are interested