Ale Vallecchi

Dear Desertnauts let's gear up for tomorrow's drive. We'll leave from an unusual meeting point, in front of the National Guard's barracks, just off E14, on Ghantoot's side. From there, after roaming in search of oryx just north of our entry point, we'll drive parallel to the highway, in the direction of Faqa. With this, we'll cross interesting low dune formations, separated by mud-rock formations, we'll coast along the military shooting ground (rounding its south-western corner), to reach Little Sweihan, where we'll zig-zag our way to the tip of this dune field, then we'll cross a couple of sabkhas, alternating with more technical terrain, to reach the Faqa plateau, before arriving at the planned exit point. The drive will alternate places where we can speed up considerably, to others where we'll need to thread more carefully, either due to high dunes of soft sand, or because of the tightness of the terrain. At the moment the convoy order looks like this: @Gertjan in Second Lead @Trekadoat #3 @Gurcharan Mehta #4 @Charbel at the Center @Batuhan Kulac at #6 @Tareck #7 @Imteeaz #8, and @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler in Sweep. The Carnity Radio Channel of choice will #4 (446081). Kindly reach the meeting point with a bit of time to spare, to leave as close to 7:00AM as possible. Finally, please come with a full tank. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

@Imran Kashif you are free to join the drive if you still wish. Thanks for updating.

Faqa to Lisaili: The Way Back - Drive Report "I know you are tired but come, this is the way" - Rumi Tired we all were, after almost 4 hours into the drive, when a series of stucks occurred, in the most unpredictable patch of "technical" dunes, just next to Lisaili's camel track. But, as the poet Rumi says, we found a way. It took us almost 1 extra hour, with tugs and multiple winch action, but we eventually did it. The tiring last hour of the drive capped an otherwise smooth itinerary, which had however started with @Miguel Codes losing one of his Wrangler's shocks (not to worry ..... evidently Jeeps can do without at least one shock, as Miguel continued and concluded the drive brilliantly). In between, nothing but excellent driving, minor refusals, a couple of quick tags, and a quickly fixed pop-out, to go from Faqa's sabkha, across Desert Highway 66, back up to Murqaab first, and then Lisaili's sabkhas and long-range dunes. From the time the shock was removed from Miguel's car to when we took our first break, it needed only 1 hr and 40 min. to drive up to Lisaili's sabkhas, that is to cover most of the drive's distance. As it usually happens after a break, concentration dropped, which likely caused a pop-out to happen, while exiting a ridge-riding on a long curvy, but low, dune, onto the hard flat surface which often awaits in this kind of terrain. My suggestion, in such cases, is not to let the car slide down the soft slope sideways, but to try and direct the wheels more perpendicularly toward the hard landing point. As we neared the planned exit, I chose to enter an unpredictable stretch of technical dunes: sometimes it is navigated with ease, others it becomes a nightmare of refusals and stucks, with multiple cars struggling to come out of tight bowls and soft ridges. This time it was the latter case. So, after tugging my Second Lead out of a soft bowl (with almost the whole front of the car up in the air), we had to first tug, and later winch, the big F150 truck, which understandably had the hardest time clearing such tight spaces. Considering the time spent with these incidents, we chose to find an easier exit, along the pylon track instead of the camel track. All in all, a great drive by the whole convoy, with a perfect Second Lead executed by @Alexanderrr, a safe and secure Sweep by @Rob S, a steadfast and always encouraging support by Marshal @Vanessa8580 , and a skillful performance by @Zulfikhar Naiyar, @Paolo Pellegrini, @Jessica Lambert, @Ignacio Quindós, @Ivan P, @Miguel Codes, @Pierre de Maigret, and @Gurcharan Mehta. The drive ended up covering 70.4 Km, in a total of 4:55 hours (2:57 of driving time), at 24 Km/h moving average (and 14 Km/h total). Thanks to all, and look forward to seeing you soon.

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 strictly follow these guidelines. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie Plus and above Meeting time: 7:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/nxAHYJ1YZVg5TdEy9 Action Plan: Always searching for clean sand (as unmarked as possible by other drivers), and at the same time looking to add some elements of interest and difficulty to the drives, this one will take us along the DXB/AD border, across a variety of terrains, from low long-range dunes, separated by old mud formations, to sabkhas, to tall dunes and deep bowls, and back to long range dunes toward the end of the drive. We'll look for distance and the speed necessary to cover as much ground as possible. Like good desert patrols, fast and stealthy. 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: 10:30 AM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please click on the "Add Waitlist" link. 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 CALENDAR

Sorry @Gurcharan Mehta. I mistakenly took the wrong suggestion from the auto-fill function. You're IN the drive, at #12 in the convoy. Sorry for the mistake. See you tomorrow.

Dear Desertnauts fresh off the plane, let's plan tomorrow's trip. First thing, the meeting point has been set at Faqa's sabkha, reachable by taking the exit just before that of the actual Faqa Town. Please note that the meeting time will be 7AM, and that we'll try to start as close to the meeting time as possible (so try to reach a little earlier. The drive plans to drive in a northerly direction, across the slip-faces, hence we may have to drive with a little more patience, to find the right places where to criss-cross the soft slopes and ridges. Initially we'll find more ling range dunes, which will leave room to more technical terrain, made more unpredictable by a bit of vegetation. Once arrived at Murqaab, depending on the time we'll have taken, we may either continue north, across a more technical area, toward the sabkhas just west of Margham, on the way to Lisaili's long range dunes, or we may take a shortcut on the "highway to Solar Park", and reach Lisaili plateau through this shorter route. The convoy will line up as follows: @Alexanderrr in Second Lead @Zulfikhar Naiyar at #3 @Paolo Pellegrini #4 @Jessica Lambert at #5 @Ignacio Quindós will be #6 @Ivan P #7 @Vanessa8580 will Center the convoy @Miguel Codes at #9 @Pierre de Maigret #10 @Zubair at #11 @Gurcharan Mehta #12, and @Rob S in Sweep. The convoy has been built to alternate Fewbies, with Fewbie Plus's or above, so that each lower ranked driver will be following the lines of more experienced driver, The presence of another Marshal (thanks to @Vanessa8580) makes the convoy even stronger and safer. The Carnity Radio Channel chosen for tomorrow will be #3 (446056). Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Enjoy the evening.

Hi @Zubair. Meeting point just published and the exit hour updated. Thanks for noticing,.

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 strictly follow these guidelines. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie and above Meeting time: 7:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/otDzJi6F96xT7KVx7 Action Plan: As you know E66 is the so called Dubai-Al Ain Road. Not everybody knows that there is a "highway" running in the desert, parallel to E66, which is aptly nicknamed D66, or Desert 66. This route has been already experimented a couple of drives, this past August, in the direction leading to Faqa. This time we'll try to spice things up a bit, by driving in the opposite direction, usually against the slip-faces, towards Lisaili: lots of criss-crossing, some technical areas, a few long range dunes toward Lisaili. 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: 10:30 AM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. 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 CALENDAR

Hi @Sunil Mathew. Yes the meeting time is 2:00PM. Thanks a lot.

Meeting point will be Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/LXygnu5HPCZtLgPX8

Dear Desertnauts as many, having just gotten back to Dubai, I am looking forward to a nice desert outing, that, if all goes as planned, will start gently at Bab al Shams, will increase in speed and rhythm through Qudra's southern quadrant, will maintain a good pace into the dunes leading to Ghantoot, where we'll cool down looking for oryx and sipping tea (if time permits) near the old date palm groves, prior to our exit at Ghantoot barracks. Hence, if you wish to bring tea, coffee and dates with you, we'll surely love to stop and enjoy right around sunset time. Considering the experience of the convoy (and its medium/short size), the drive could be bumped up to a bit more challenging than Fewbie), but in general it will be a great warm up for the cooler season to come. The convoy order will be the following: @Pierre de Maigret in Second Lead @Dinesh Kumar A at #3 @Sunil Mathew in the Center @Ignacio Quindós at #5 @Gurcharan Mehta at #6, and @Looper in Sweep. Radio channel will be decided before departing. Looking forward to see you tomorrow, I wish you all a great weekend.

Dear @Ignacio Quindós, @Sunil Mathew and @Rajat Verma, considering the short convoy, It is unlikely that any other members will be left out of the drive, or will not find space if they sign up late. In consideration of this, I will be happy to confirm your presence, and if OK with you, I will move you to the Going tab. Please let me know. Thanks a lot.

No worries @Ignacio Quindós. An earlier meeting time would work well for me. The drive is confirmed. Thanks a lot.

Dear @Pierre de Maigret, @Dinesh Kumar A, @Gurcharan Mehta, @Sunil Mathew, @Ignacio Quindós considering the difficulty to reschedule, I will keep the drive on Sunday PM. I just kindly ask you to change the meeting time to 2PM. I will get ready for my trip beforehand, and will manage to reach the airport in time for my late evening departure. Thanks for understanding.

Not yet @Sunil Mathew. Let's see what is everybody saying. Thanks.

Dear @Pierre de Maigret, @Dinesh Kumar A, @Gurcharan Mehta. Thanks for signing up. Since posting the drive I have been informed of a business contingency, due to which I'll have to travel away from Dubai on Sunday evening. Therefore I am kindly asking if you would be able to join the drive on Saturday, Sept. 4th, PM, same time. This would be very much appreciated. Same for the waitlisted members, @Ignacio Quindós and @Sunil Mathew. Looking forward to hearing from you, before I change the date. Thanks a lot for your understanding.

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 strictly follow these guidelines. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie and above Meeting time: 2:00 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/LXygnu5HPCZtLgPX8 Action Plan: A drive which aims to both get back into the RHYTHM of dancing on the dunes, as well as getting rid of the BLUES of returning from the summer holidays. The drive will start in Qudra (exact meeting point yet to be decided, with a short warm up segment in Qudra's southern quadrant, followed by a drive south toward Ghantoot, aimed at reaching the Oryx feeding station next to the exit point. If we reach the end of the trail in good time, we'll pause before sunset to sip some tea or coffee by one of the old date trees that dot, like mini oasis, this part of the desert. 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: 6:30PM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. 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 CALENDAR

L&L: The Lahbab Loop - Drive Report "Dance when you are perfectly free" - Rumi One never knows how a Newbie drive can go. Due to a combination of mostly unforeseeable factors sometimes it gets complicated, moving on at a halting pace, others it flows smoothly and naturally. There was a long period during this drive when the convoy danced, perfectly free of concerns. It danced with sinuous movements on top of smooth ridges, across gentle dunes, in and out of sand bowls from which gazelles darted out of their hidings, in the shade of gnarly trees. For almost an hour, the convoy moved without interruptions, to the music of radio silence, navigating the dunes to the north of the Lahbab pipeline, across it, and first onto the longer cordons west of the gas facility, then through the technical area reaching out to the red sand bowls overlooking Tazi Nazwa. The dance started after the unfortunate incident to @Arshad Roojee's Wrangler, with the gears stuck in parking. After evaluating the situation, considering the complications of carrying out repairs in the extreme heat of that time of day (and the impossibility of towing the vehicle out), it was decided to leave the car there, marked the spot, selected a close-by entry point for the mechanic who had been located in the meantime, and chose to move on, taking Arshad and his passenger with us. The dance ended with a couple of stucks on the same soft ridge, just before Margham's red sand bowls. After a small break, and a quick briefing on how to deal with ridge-riding and criss-crossing, the convoy moved to tackle this interesting area, before closing the loop, and returning to the tarmac, a few meters east of our meeting point. At the end of the day, we covered 56 Km., driving 2:32 hours (and pausing for another hour), moving at an average of 22Km/h (16 Km/h total moving speed). All in all, a well executed Newbie Plus drive. Great job by @Daniel Rodas in Second Lead, and extremely useful and competent support by @Sunil Mathew at Center, and @Waqas Parvez in Sweep. Very well driven track by @Anthony Cupit, @James Lovell, @Usman Basit, @Ali Shah, @Andrei S, @Arshad Roojee (until it lasted) and @salah2u. Looking forward to seeing you soon dancing in the desert.

TGIF: Margham to Faqa - Drive Report "There is a desert I long to be walking. A wide emptiness; peace beyond any understanding of it" - Rumi It would be a safe guess to say that all us desert wanderers find fulfilment where others see emptiness. The desert draws us to it, in a way that sometimes it's difficult to explain. A drive like last Friday's TGIF certainly quenches the thirst for the desert's emptiness, and stirs up the appetite for more. A nice start at Margham's red sand bowls, followed by a slow dance on the ridges leading west toward Lisaili, across the Dubai-Al Ain Road, along the camel track to reach the technical area at the beginning of Lisaili's long range dunes, through the sabkhas leading to Murqaab, and on to reach Faqa, traversing a mix of tight bowls long range cordons. At the end of the day, we went for 78.7 Km, in 2:59 hours of moving time (and 1 hour of stops and rest), driving at 26 Km/h (total average speed of 20 Km/h). Very well executed drive by everybody, with minimum incidents until the last segment, where fatigue likely took a bit of a toll, causing a few back-to-back stucks. The take away from these issues that arose at the end of the drive was that the approach to the crest remains a crucial element in the success of a safe criss-crossing, and that exiting when finding oneself below the ridge, and unable to reach it, is the best way to avoid getting stuck, and keeping the drive moving. Besides criss-crossing, the other main skill practiced during the drive was ridge-riding: not the straight one, on long range dunes, but the sinuous, almost dancing-like, slow motion ridge riding, along curvy bowls and tight crests. Great support by @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler in Second Lead, @Thomas Varghese at Center Forward, and @munkybizness in Sweep. Not too much work to do, but always ready to run to the rescue when needed. Very well done to @Jose Thomas, @takeshi sobue, @Gertjan, @Santoso Marjuki and @Beide Worku. Looking forward to seeing you all again soon in the emptiness.

@Daniel Rodas you are welcome. See you tomorrow.