Srikumar

@Franco Swart you have been added on Richard's Newbie Qudra drive under Manage as you had waitlisted there as well

@jodha singh shekhawat @Dagdag Sofiane @Luca Palanca Falsini @Ashy @Mukundan Nair @Arun Mathew as you have not yet got a single drive for this weekend yet, I have added your names on to this drive. Please confirm you would be joining.

Congrats @Najeeb Mohammed you have grown in lot of confidence from your Newbie drives to Intermediate drives. While your drive skills are very good, your willingness to be a team player is your biggest strength. Well done and look forward to seeing you help groom new off-roaders.

@Luca Palanca Falsini based on last week's experience even though the appointments were not available for the required slot, there was no rush at Ghantoot center. As I am presuming many book the slot but don't show up. So if I were you I would take a chance of going there half an hour early and most likely they will complete your test in advance.

You can alternatively book appointments through the SEHA app as mentioned in the below article.

@Arda Yagcioglu and @Rajeevan Vickneswaran please book your appointment for the DPI test at Ghantoot or through the SEHA app and confirm the same on this drive thread.

Congrats

Congrats @Rizwan Waheed

Congrats Richard. Your passion for offroading is something that is quite commendable. You and Marjan have become such an integral part of the Carnity family that it's hard to imagine it without the two of you.

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 (all levels) (No Newbies) When: 9 Oct 2020, Friday. Meeting time: 3:30 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Murquab: https://goo.gl/maps/VvHKcjX4TjrUGHxC7 Action Plan: Evening drive till about 07:30 PM 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. Please also make sure you have all the equipment required on board as a Fewbie - Proper shovel, deflation kit, flag. THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. 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. End Point: Al Qudra Road nearby Solar Park LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 12 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Thursday - 9 AM. 1 Lead Marshal + 2 or 1 Senior Members + 10 Members. 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 below calendar

UPDATED BASED ON THE LATEST REGULATIONS OF 17 JAN 2020 1. DPI / PCR test is mandatory and has to be done 48 hours prior to entering Abu Dhabi. If you continue to stay in Abu Dhabi, then on the 4th day you need to undergo a PCR test. 2. DPI test is done via a small painless prick on your left index finger. DPI report comes within 2 mins of collecting the sample. PCR test is conducted via a nasal swab and the results can take between 24 - 48 hours. 3. The test can be done at the drive through centers located on the Al Faya Truck Road (E75) just off the Ghantoot exit. The drive through centers are available on both sides of the road. Generally the center location in the direction towards E11 has less rush compares to the one on the opposite side of the road. The locations are as follows: Al Faya Road (E75) is the stretch between Sheikh Zayed Road (E11) and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311), so you can reach these stations by taking either of these two roads. If you are taking the Sheikh Zayed Road (E11) you would need to take Exit 403 and follow signs for Al Faya Road. If you are on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311), take the exit to your right for Al Faya Road or Al Faya Truck Road (E75). Location (from E311 towards E11) : https://goo.gl/maps/wkG1vSq1E2m61qo19 Location (from E11 towards E311) :https://goo.gl/maps/uVZ1hywrzbaFPiBz8 There is no rush in the early hours of the morning and the entire process would take less than 10 minutes. Payment of AED 50 is to be done during the test. Payment is via Card only. Cash is not accepted. No prior booking is needed. Original and valid EID is mandatory for the tests. 4. Alternative is to book an appointment via the SEHA app at various screening centers. Appointments are generally available for the same day and from my recent personal experience if you have an appointment for the same day but at a different timing, say you have an appointment for 1 pm but you are at the screening center at 11 am, they will let you go through. But the same day appointment is a must to take the test. Also, generally there is more rush during the start of the week, but towards the end of the week appointments are easily available. The entire process including waiting in the car can take upto 1 hour depending on the queue. SEHA APP on Apple Store https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/seha/id436297690 SEHA APP on Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.linkdev.seha&hl=en 5. Kids below 12 years of age donot require the test to be done. 6. If the test results states "No Swab" means you are good to enter Abu Dhabi. In the unfortunate event that you dont get this SMS, then I was informed that you need to do the PCR test. Further details need to be checked. 7. if you have taken the COVID19 vaccine, then you don't need to undergo any of the above tests. 8. If you have no symptoms of COVID19, there is nothing to be worried and you can go ahead and take the test. 9. If you have done a prior test you can enter Abu Dhabi from any of the routes including E11, E311, E611, E22, etc. Now, for the main thing whether the trip to Abu Dhabi is worth the above. With a little bit of planning the above can easily be done and ofcourse any offroader who has already had a taste of Abu Dhabi sands would say an overwhelming YES. DISCLAIMER : The above information are subject to change at any time as per the guidelines of the UAE Government

TRIP REPORT Sweihan or Little Liwa as its known among the offroading circle is considered as one of the most amazing as well as challenging terrains that is available in UAE. So with Sweihan calling and the weather getting better a trip was needed to be planned. Despite the current movement restrictions, with some early posting and planning we had 10 cars that had signed up for the Sweihan drive. Many had prebooked the DPI test appointment and some took the test a day in advance. More on the procedures in a separate post. Even with having to start in the dead hours of the night everyone made it to the meeting point at sharp 5:30 AM. Lot of respect to all the drivers. Sweihan has changed a bit in the past 6 months, with a more than usual amount of vegetation creeping on many of the dunes. This adds to the challenge of having to negotiate through some hard bumps as well especially when side slopping at high pace. Other than a few stucks and refusals the convoy was maintaining a pretty decent pace, till Sweihan decided its time for a challenge. As we were descending a steep hill one of the cars got stuck in a nasty pocket at the top of the dune. Getting to the stuck car itself was a challenge and recovering it from that position in a single tug was an even bigger one. A single hard tug was the only option else we would have had 2 cars stuck by the rope on the top of that dune. Perfectly executed and managed by @Asif Hussain to help recover the stuck vehicle. We then started moving deeper into Sweihan playing along the awesomely tall dunes to reach a bowl that I had marked for the drone shot. Along the war we had to go through a pop-out, a leaking tire and an overheating car that had a dead battery. But all these challenges seem like a walk in the park when you have an excellent team who have the patience and a willingness to help. So while few where replacing the leaking tyre, others where helping with recharging the battery. Took us close to an hour but thankfully the car started with no sign of any issue. With the time reaching close to 12 pm, it was getting seriously hot and we needed to find as flat a track as possible through the Sweihan dunes. Not an easy task, believe me. However we did find one with the minimal amount of dunes and we sped our way towards the exit point. Such is the massiveness of Sweihan that even after exiting the dunes, the flat track to the road itself is a good 20 km stretch. This made up for a good fun rally kind of drive with speeds touching close to 70 kmph. As we were approaching near the exit I heard over the radio that another car started overheating and there was a break in convoy. With the exit just a km away it was decided to exit out the first few cars in the convoy while me and Chaitanya returned to attend to the overheating car. With no solution in sight, it was finally decided to tow the car onto the road. We had a brief but a super exciting glimpse of @Chaitanya D's lead which I am sure that we are all looking forward to seeing again in the very near future. Unfortunately we couldn't make it to the marked locations for @Lorenzo Candelpergher's drone shots, but hopefully we can do something very soon or plan a separate drive for the drone footage. Extremely well done to all the drive participants for keeping your calm and composure in a challenging terrain which gave challenging problems. But nothing that can't be solved with a cool head and some good humor to liven the atmosphere. Special word of thanks to one of our oldest and senior most member @Asif Hussain for supporting the drive in every possible manner. Thanks Sirji

It's 6:00 AM as per the original Drive post

A little too early for tomorrow's drive? 😁 See you in the morning.

For those who are going for the test at Ghantoot the location is https://maps.app.goo.gl/h6eNT552DcfMZeMR6

Drive RSVP is Closed Convoy Numbering 1. Srikumar 2. Chaitanya D 3. Nivin 4. Lorenzo 5. Janarthan 6. Tbone 7. Foxtrot 8. Kalahari 9. Najeeb 10. Asif Hussain We shall be using Carnity Channel 1 tomorrow. The nearest gas station to the meeting point is https://maps.app.goo.gl/TKTgwSNCCk8mUgBc7 See you in the morning.

Booked my slot.

For those travelling from Dubai, Sharjah and Northern Emirates Please ensure that you book an appointment for the DPI test at Ghantoot for 9th Oct between 4:00 AM to 4:30 AM. Slots are available but are limited. https://ghantoot.quantlase.com/appointment/update-details/ Please confirm on the drive thread that you have booked your slot. 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: Newbie and Above When: 9 Oct 2020, Friday. Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: - https://goo.gl/maps/uB95ozqowLGVBBF5A 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: 10:00 AM LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 15 cars only. 1 Lead Marshal + 1 Senior Members + 12 Members. 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 CALENDAR EVENT

Congrats @Senthil Kumar

Congrats @Anand Nataraj

Congrats @tcarrimjee you have quietly moved up the ladder, just like in the drives, never having any issues

Congrats @Ali Abas Ali

Congrats @Alexander Alcala