Thanks for the great drive @Chaitanya D

Thanks @Ale Vallecchifor organising the drive, It really is the best way to blow off some  steam midweek and helps break up the working week! 

It was great to see so many familiar faces after my 2 week holiday and nice to meet some new faces too.

The look on @imranaasghar81's face when @Watteau found his phone, just as he'd given up hope was priceless !


 

1 hour ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

@Foxtrot Oscar, Angela should I put you in Manage for this drive (I saw your name on our Excel sheet)? Thanks and welcome back.

Yes! ☺️


Beep beep .... 🚙

For ne it is a matter of personal safety. I have both, jump cables and the portable power pack. The advantage of the portable power pack is that I don't have to flag down cars when I am driving alone in order to get a jump start with the cables. 
 

I have one, had call to use it once and it worked 

On 3/28/2021 at 10:07 PM, Watteau said:

Me too, back from holidays, ready for the desert, got the winch fitted now as well

Ooooo check you out!! Looks fantastic ! 

4 hours ago, ARAGON said:

Thank you very much @Rahimdad, @Srikumarand @Foxtrot Oscar for your valuable inputs and advices.

I have changed the oil to 5W30 now.

The tyres  -  taking cue from @Rahimdad and @Srikumar  i will keep under observation for some time decide later

Planning to join the next absolute newbie ride. (not the one tomorrow)

Will get in touch for the head unit ..thanks @Foxtrot Oscar

Buy it from Amazon or wherever and get them to install it. Although they sell all the popular ones so perhaps could give advice on the best set up for you 

Hey welcome aboard , and nice car. I used a very decent professional workshop to install a head unit in Umm Ramol.

a couple of other people I know have since used them and are v happy 

Well done @Shehab Alawadhi 👏

1 hour ago, asifk said:

Thanks Angela @Foxtrot Oscar for an amazing drive. You're always pushing the envelope a little bit while ensuring everyone is safe and that makes for a great adrenaline rush. I enjoyed this location which I hadn't done before, but with the weather heating up the pajero continued to disappoint with the transmission coolant temperature. I have to admit I too was feeling a little worse for the wear by the 2 hour point of the drive, and therefore thought it safest to exit. 

The recovery while crested was a new one for me - thanks for the compliments @Ashok chaturvedibut I wouldn't have done it without @Foxtrot Oscar talking me through it. Definitely felt quite good to recover from that position without having to get out of the car

See you all soon on the sand ! 

That's very kind of you to say so, but the credit is all yours.. I know you had doubts with what I suggested, but it didn't deter you, you listened and gave it a go. It was great to see it work, Well done again. 

Also thank you for the honesty, I've left drives when I've not been 100%, It is absolutely the best policy, we need to make sure that it's not just our cars that are desert fit. It can lead to all sorts of issues.

Looking forward to seeing you out there again soon  

13 hours ago, Matt.T said:

Bring your A game....... no.pressure then 😁

No pressure for you at all @Matt.T You always bring your A game 😜

13 hours ago, Lawrence_Chehimi said:

Hi Angela @Foxtrot Oscar, not sure I'm eligible to join your drive, I think I have only 4 fewbie drives...

If yes please add me to your waitlist.

Hi @Lawrence_Chehimi you need 5 fewbie drives to be eligible for Fewbie + 

I’m sure you’ll get on one soon 😊

3 hours ago, Ashok chaturvedi said:

@Foxtrot Oscar does it seems now with Gaurav withdrawing that I am in todays drive.

You are indeed !! 😎

1 minute ago, Ahab Shamaa said:

GJ is a new one for me Angela @Foxtrot Oscar 😂

I’m looking forward to the drive tomorrow 😀

OJ, Agent Orange  

Good evening fellow adventurers,

I'm very much looking forward to heading back into Badayer's red sands. This drive is a perfect training ground for fewbie plus. It has climbs, and bowls with swirling pockets so you will be testing your skills to the max.

It's Saturday afternoon, it's fun time, be sure to bring your A game   

We will be using radio channel 3 (three)

My proposed convoy is as follows:
 

43 minutes ago, Ashok chaturvedi said:

@Foxtrot Oscar does this mean I am nearing the top of WL..all is well and under control at home. 

You're the only one on the waitlist now. I am about to post the convoy so if anyone drops out you are in, Glad all is well at home and sorry you had to miss the drive

 

Drive Report

I told you it would be tricky. Faqa’s alluring beauty , so enticing, so thrilling and so fraught with hidden dangers.

I started off slowly, allowing everyone to wake from their morning slumber as I’m sure we were all still in shock from our alarms going off at an ungodly hour. I know I was.  The slopes were steep but we managed to get along the side of them with no issues, we did some crossovers and made our way further into the sand. @Abu Muhammad had a nice moment to rest on the crest when @Mohamed Seidam and @Francois Germishuys got the shovels, out, and then finally a tug as the conditions weren’t perfect enough for the car’s gizmos to kick in. There were a few more refusals as everyone became acclimatized to the challenge Faqa presents. I heard someone sarcastically comment re making the drive more difficult,I think we all laughed at that. Faqa is all the proof you need that IM drives are not all about the big bowl thrills.

We continued our journey riding on small ridges as they beckoned us towards them and traversing the dunes as we do. @Rizwan Waheed had some issues on one dune, couldn’t get on top of it to cross over, so we gave him a tug and he deflated a bit more and then we continues to Faqa’s much less ventured other side.

Having reached the pristine virgin dunes that run along the Al Ain border there was nothing for us to do but flatten those wonderful ridges with our bash plates. They’re high, there’s a steep slip face on the other side, you require nerves of steel, and complete control of your vehicle to stay on top of them but stay on top we did. One after another after another after another. We sliced tracks through the area at a good pace and only had a few more refusals and one stuck.

Well done all, we made it out on time, although I am always tempted to keep driving haha.  @Rizwan Waheed, just need to push that Pajero a little more and get better control on side slopes. @Rizwanm2, I think you only had a couple of refusals, well done. @Abu Muhammad, you only had a couple of issues too, nice driving! @Francois Germishuys  you didn’t have any, sorry about the choking seatbelt haha , a different kind of challenge for you today.

Many thanks to @siddharth maheshwari for executing a perfect second lead, following my instructions and having a good drive and also for pulling me out when I was headed into a pocket. You did well on that recovery. Ask to be more involved with them on your next drives to ensure you keep learning and practicing.

Also to @Mohamed Seidam for his role as CF and helping with refusals and stucks. Thank you for indulging the teacher in me and ensuring everyone was involved in their own recoveries which allows learning to take place. I can guarantee you that on my drives I’ll never get into your car to drive you out of trouble , instead I will pass on the knowledge and skills so that you can do it for yourself.

We covered 68km in 4hrs 3mins with a moving time of 3hrs10mins. Well done you!!!

Until our next adventure 😊

26 minutes ago, Gregory Perkin said:

Hi Angela @Foxtrot Oscar

This is truly bizarre. I didn't sign up for any drives at all this weekend because I've always known I have to work. 14 hour day to Sofia and back 😴

Never seen this happen before. I'd love to be there, but unfortunately can't.

Have fun all. Will look forward to the report.

Awe man, would have loved yo have had you. See you soon  

Thank you for the wonderful drive this evening/night @Chaitanya D. I'm really looking forward more night drives with you 

Nice to see some new faces, some familiar faces and some who have returned after a sabbatical. 🙂

Good evening fellow adventurers, apologies for the delay but I was driving in the desert (quelle suprise) 

Faqa....LOVE IT! Let's get on this tomorrow. We will have slopes, ridges, bowls, trees, you name it, Faqa has it. Now the plan is to loop around and come back the other side of Faqa which is free of tracks and has almost virgin dunes. However, we'll see how it goes and what the Sand Gods throw our way. 

What I need from you is , patience, we have some new IMs with us.  Good humour, what's the point if it's not fun? Felxibility, we aim to finish at 10, where we finish is another matter. And most importantly your wits, don't leave that at home as this area has lots of hidden depths that can land us in bother. 

We shall be using Radio Channel 3 (three)

My proposed convoy is as follows:


 

See you all tomorrow  

Amazing! Thank you for organising this @Jeepie . 

9 minutes ago, Goutam said:

@Foxtrot Oscar I am leaving this drive. This would have been my first drive after one and half months of hiatus, but the jeep was due for regular service and I wouldn't get it back by Saturday. 

I gave the car for service today, the regular service could have been done by today but I reported a couple of error messages that I get while driving in the desert (ESC Service Required - often and 4WD service required - once). They said they will do the inspection of these error messages only by Saturday.

I was just wondering where you had been the other day @Goutam . Sorry you're not able to make the drive, hopefully I will drive with you again someday soon  

2 minutes ago, Ahab Shamaa said:

What a fantastic drive this was! I enjoyed every minute of it 😀

The latter bit of the drive was awesome, and the desert night was exhilarating and refreshing.  Everyone drove so well and everyone got to try out their shiny lights 😍
The fewbies proved to be very capable   and the IMs showed off their impressive driving skills as well 😀

@Foxtrot Oscar, as usual, you’re the life of the party (or the drive)🤣 Thank you for all the effort you put into keeping the convoy entertained, challenged and most importantly safe 🙏🏻
@Craig Finlayson and @Islam Soliman, thanks for keeping the convoy safe, and helping us move things along. 
@Ashok chaturvedi and @Hisham Masaad, my fellow FJ owners, thanks for showing us that FJs don’t actually get stuck; they just park themselves for a short while 😂

Finally, I look forward to driving with you all again, and I hope it’s a night drive, because I thoroughly enjoyed driving under the imposing desert sky 😀

FJs don’t actually get stuck; they just park themselves for a short while 🤣 love it!

I still think we should have gatecrashed that BBQ, the smell of charcoal burning in the night air is one of life's simple pleasures. Maybe next week I'll do a night drive again I thoroughly enjoy it too

17 minutes ago, Ashok chaturvedi said:

@Foxtrot Oscar some rumours are there there were two mysterious outsiders who came to watch Vidooshi retrieval.. one was caught on my camera in red jeep... anyone else noticed.

 

Yes, they were nice guys and were offering to help .

they wee with us as we inflated and asked if they could join ‘my club’ 😅

they have the Carnity details now , so hopefully we’ll see them again