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Good morning everyone, the weekend was an eye opener and a perfect example of 'we always need to expect the unexpected in the desert'. The failure of my clutch cylinder was completely unexpected as I had a safety check on the previous week and I also used to check underneath the jeep every day to see if there is any leakage and there was none. Also, this has happened almost at the exact midway of the track next to the Saudi border made the task very difficult. But, the presence of all of our most experienced off roaders @Gaurav @Srikumar@Asif Hussain @GauravSoni @Hisham Masaad with us gave me relief and hope. and the rest is history! There were moments which was scary and felt like the car will slowly topple over but with improvisation, on the spot thinking and teamwork the car came out. The inclined position without seat belt has given me a stomach cramp. Another incident to note is that the last pull from raptor has sheared off the cast iron recovery point from the Jeep. Due to @Gaurav doubling down on safety and securing it separately it did not fly off and hurt anyone. This highlights the importance of practicing all the safety procedures during a recovery. I would like to thank each and every convoy member who gave me confidence such as @GauravSoni who said will not leave here without the car and otherwise we will camp there itself @munkybizness who accommodated and fed me during the night, and all the shovelling boys. I am sorry that @Tharun Kumar V @Bjoern has to miss out on their planned drives, but I am really appreciative of you being there at the recovery. Again, a big thanks to @Gaurav @Srikumar (who had to leave his son in the other car to lead this recovery) @Asif Hussain @Hisham Masaad @Ranjan Das @Dodi Syahdar @Bjoern all others for doing this and bringing the car (and me) out without any major issues. Just for update, the recovery truck came around 11.50pm that night and I reached home with the car around 5am. Now it's in workshop and the issues are expected to be rectified in a week-10 days time. See you soon on sand. Anoop

Liwa crossing is always an exciting chapter for any offroader, but this year IM drive has seen a lot more challenging situations that I have not yet witnessed in my decades of experience. We all learn new things every day. In case of any mechanical failure, we always try to rescue the car as much as we can. If we cannot manage the recovery of the vehicle, car owners have to rely on a more professional approach of calling the tow truck or returning back with a mechanic to fix the issue on-site. Yes, we never leave any driver behind, but on some occasions, we have left the car inside the desert as per our roles and responsibilities to keep everyone safe. Thanks to @Dodi Syahdar Raptor's presence whose beast mode is able to drag the dead car through Liwa's enormous dunes. However, luck ended too fast when we were unable to swing past the soft sand patch after multiple failed attempts. Without a rolling momentum, Raptor's beast mode wasn't able to activate again due to extra soft sand all around. Hence we left with a winching option for the last leg and that went in for good 12+ hours, simply because the angle of the dead car was against all physics, and pulling through slip face + wedge pocket made it our worst nightmare. Thanks to @Ranjan Das winch we were able to drag the dead car a little bit uphill, but when the car started to slip into the pocket at night, we left the recovery to restart again with more winches and energy. Thanks @Hisham Masaad and @Bjoern for supporting this extreme recovery with your powerful winches, patience and determination. Without so many winches at hand and 10-15 ropes, this recovery wouldn't have been possible. After the previous night's challenge, we straight away launched the heavy-duty idea to introduce a snatch block with a Hisham winch to 1.5X the winching power at 90 degrees angled pull, through Raptor heavyweight to anchor. It did its magic and failed when the car started to tip off on two wheels, so we secured the B pillar with @Bjoern winch on the right side steep climb. Then after a little while 1.5X winch also failed as the car was getting into the wedge with an even steeper angle to deal with. Now we double down the winch by adding Ranjan's winch to the equation and finally saw the "Yellow Jeep" crawling up the hellhole. It was an unforgettable experience of my life. Thanks @Srikumar, @Asif Hussain and @GauravSoni for all the tactical support, critical thinking and impeccable leadership to deal with this EPIC extreme recovery through Liwa's enormous dunes. Thanks to @Waqas Parvez @Vaibhav @ASAD. @Pacific and @munkybizness for being there at the backend. Big thanks and shout out to @Ishak @Santoso Marjuki @Tharun Kumar V and Asif bhai's friend - Asif for offering EXEMPLARY SUPPORT by handling the most grueling and physically taxing need of attaching and detaching 10's of tow rope multiple times on huge Liwa dunes slip face with soft sand. Without your all great teamwork, this extreme recovery wouldn't have been possible.

@Anoop Nair in Carnity we are a big huge family. There was no way we could leave anyone. Great minds like @Gaurav @Srikumar @Asif Hussain @Hisham Masaad @GauravSoni made this possible. This was a great experience and learning for everyone present. Hats off to you for sitting in that car in the same angle for more that 4 hours without water and food.

amazing redirecting forces Please watch this till the end

A bit more real-life practical video: Single Pull Line without use of a snatch-block. This is the most common used technique for winch recovery: Double Line Pull by using a single snatch block: The Single Pull Line will work for 90% of winch recoveries we do in the sand. Make sure to unreel your winch rope as far as you can, as this provides more winching power (less rope on the reel means a smaller diameter means better power ratio) but keep at least 5-6 reels on the winch, otherwise the rope can get loose from the reel. The Double Pull Line with a snatch block will basically reduce the load for the winch with 50%, so it is recommended for those rare extreme recoveries. Of course in real life scenarios there are many possible ways to recover a vehicle, including the use of other vehicles to redirect forces, or use them as an anchor. There is no perfect handbook and it will be trial and error to see what works best.

I think he had plenty of food and water to enjoy the front seat on the recovery!! 😂 It would have been a human atrocity to keep him hungry while we enjoyed few snacks here and there! 😂😂😂😂

Dear Desert Drivers, Looking at the weather forecast, it looks like Al Ain area is less exposed to rain than Dubai, and for now Saturday morning looks dry and even partially sunny. I will keep watching, but we can expect nice conditions for the drive ! The plan is to explore the Southern part of Sweihan, between Sweihan and Yahar. From the meeting point move East in direction to the Old Lady Dune, then turn South, cross the road, continue in direction of Al Ain Airport, then looping back and exit close to Yahar. Big dunes and nice bowls on the way ! As usual, alternatives are possible to adjust to the conditions, and how we progress. We have 5 drivers in wait list, including 3 for a 1st drive. Please check check your schedule and in case you cannot attend, remove your RSVP early enough to allow them to join. I will issue the final list by the end of the afternoon tomorrow

Dear Desertnauts. A few info about this drive, its spirit, and the possibility of accommodating as many members as possible. After many excursions in the area between Murqab, Lisaili and Solar Park, having acquired (hopefully) enough experience with the characteristics of these terrains, and having driven by a few recognizable landmarks (sabkhas, tracks, groups of trees, camel farms or feeding stations), I thought it may be time to add the element of orienteering to the drive, and proceed to manage the drive "blind", that is without the use of GPS maps. This will mean mostly that we may arrive at some dead ends, and loop back somewhere along the trail, or find obstacles that will need more careful navigation, and in any case, adjust the track according to whatever we'll face, on uncharted territory. Considering the great number of waitlisted members, we'll also do our best to allow as many members as possible to join the drive. With this in mind, I wish to thank @Vanessa8580, who has offered to lead a second convoy, along a similar route, leaving from the same starting point as Convoy #1. Thanks to this possibility, at the moment I will be leading the 10 members who will be signed up for the drive on Friday evening (considering the possibility of some drop-outs from the current list, and the automatic signing up of those waitlisted). At the moment Convoy #1 includes @Jaro Tuzinsky, @Gary F, @Sunil Mathew, @Abdul Basit Khan, @Stumpy Paj, @Ishak, @Frans M, @Adam James, @Bravoecho and @Stan (I will be supported by @Dodi Syahdar). Also at the moment, considering the first 10 members on the current waiting list (signed up for their 1st drive), Convoy #2 includes @Ahmed Wagdy, @FARAZ MOHAMMED, @Andrei S, @Thejas Uthran, @Sebb, @Krishna R, @Murtaza Bhuria and @Naim Aoun, @Shahid Mehmood and @Yaseen87 Givne the above, the updated waitlist includes, from #1 onward, @Rashid Alseeni, @Zubair @DanielN, @Ahmad Nerat, @Dimitrios Kalogirou and @Claudio C. More updates on the drive's details, and the convoys final composition and order in the next couple of days. Looking forward to see you all soon.

Hi @Srikumar I would love to join the ride if you are able to add me please!