Ale Vallecchi

@Kalahari I am really sorry not to see you this week!

@Foxtrot Oscar and @Junaid Sayeed, just a reminder that all drivers need to have read and acknowledged the Covid-19 rules on the web site. If you have not done so yet, please acknowledge by clicking on the "Totally Agree" icon at the bottom of the rules' post. If you have already done so, I'll update my file (and sorry for the oversight). Thanks a lot.

Congrats @Junaid Sayeed. Looking forward to seeing you this weekend.

Complimenti @Lorenzo Candelpergher. Well earned!! Hope to see you very soon for an Italian connection drive 🟩⬜🟥

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE - Sea to Mountain Exploration drive's report Exploration was the goal, and explore we did. The drive's idea was to find new locations, off the beaten track, with potential for providing new learning experiences for the members, and the possibility of honing less developed off-roading abilities. This first exploration aimed to find a way from the sea to the mountains of RAK. To face such daunting task, we thought of filling up with some munchies at Barracuda's Thunder Road Grill, before setting off into the little known territory. After meeting up with the rest of the drivers by the Emirates Motorplex, just in front of UAQ's russian plane relic (see link above to witness its last landing), we ventured into the "savannah" like environment that characterizes the first kilometres toward E611. The plants here benefit from the high water level seeping through from the sea, and belong to botanical families which thrive on soils high in salinity. Vegetation is very abundant, mostly of creeping ground plants (gourds), or low bushes, both thorny and succulent. The sand dunes are very low, and covered, for the most part, by the abundant vegetation. Occasional higher cordons rise from the low plain (we are actually below the sea level here), with small goat and camel farms perched on their tops. Even these low dune cordons are tricky to navigate, due to their tightness and the presence of numerous steps and pockets. Moving toward E311 the bushes leave more room to groups of taller Ghaf trees, which become quite abundant once across the highway, giving the area a more forested look. Goat farms, herds of camels, and some small sabkhas, white from the evaporation of saline water, separate E311 from a large, very irregular, cordon of dunes (almost a plateau), beyond which E611 is occasionally visible. Playing on these dunes proved to be a small challenge, due to their tight and unpredictable nature: yet play a little we did, practicing some side sloping in a deep send bowl, with a big Ghaf tree in its middle. With E611 in sight we drove along the eastern side of the sand plateau, on a track jammed between the trees and the dunes, until we found ourselves on an elevated sand ledge, dotted with gnarly trees, where a couple of major stucks on the very churned sand forced us to make a prolonged stop, just while dusk turned into night. That's when the Rumble in the Jungle begun: the whole group came into action, some shoveling, some tying double ropes to the cars, others literally clearing the ares from the sturdy shrubs, or illuminating the very tight spaces where the recovery manoeuvres were taking place. After the successful group recovery effort, the delay meant we had to find our way out of the area with an exiting night drive, looking for, and trying to follow, very faintly marked tracks, away from the fenced area close to E611, and back toward E311, on the other side of the sand plateau. After a couple of failed attempts we did manage to climb the tallest dune of the day (and night), and reached the exit point: it was 4:46 hours after departure, with 38.6Km on the odometer, driven at an average moving speed of 16 Km/h. My hat goes off to all the drivers, for managing very smoothly a very difficult and unusual terrain: good job @Kalahari, @Pancho, @Desert Dweller, @Chaitanya D, @Srikumar (special thanks for your guidance and assistance during the more difficult moments of the drive), @Najeeb Mohammed, @Rinelle Sanaani (you missed the fun night part of the drive), and the Pajeep duo (@Jeepie and @Wrangeld), for brilliantly navigating at the back, on very challenging tracks. See you all soon for Sea to Mountain Part 2: from E611 to Al Khail, at the foot of the Hajar Mlountains. In the meantime, have a great week.

After a weekend of slow paced, finesse driving, here comes the long trek, high energy adventure. Fast, but not furious, as safety always comes first. The longest possible drive without crossing borders, from the boundary with Al Ain (Faqa) to almost Dubai city limits (Qudra Parking). Four fun areas to cross: Faqa (the "arboretum", northern side), Little Sweihan, then up toward Bab al Shams quadrant of Qudra, and finally Qudra proper. Bring your concentration (we wish the convoy to move in unison), nerve (criss-crossing will abound) and stamina (we hope to drive for about 4 hours....inshallah). More news in a few days.

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 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: Intermediate and above When: 18 Sep 2020, Friday Meeting time: 5:30 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Action Plan: This is a NAVIGATION drive. We will cover as many Km as possible (minimum 100Km), driving at a faster pace, avoiding technical areas (unless impossible) and looking to move quickly across marked waypoints, between Faqa (Sharjah) and Qudra Parking (Dubai), via Little Sweihan, Solar Park and the Bab al Sham sectors. Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/VPfXifBrbtqPhUme6 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. Approximate finish time: 09:30 AM THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. WE WILL END THE DRIVE AT A POINT WHICH IS NOT CLOSE TO AN AIR LINE. 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. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 Intermediate and above drivers. RSVP will close on Thursday - 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 ON THE BELOW CALENDAR

@Kalahari, @Chaitanya D, @Desert Dweller, @Wrangeld the booking at the Grill has been made for 1:30PM in the name of Carnity. See you soon. @Srikumar, @Najeeb Mohammed, @Rinelle Sanaani, @Pancho and @Febin Frederic you can refill at the Eppco gas station just on the other side of the road in front (more or less) of Dreamland Aquapark. See you all soon.

No worries @asifk. Enjoy your visitors. Will see you on the next drive.

Umm Al Quwain's airport plane's mystery solved. https://youtu.be/PH9PLvHb_jk Hi @Shiju Manuel. Sorry to hear that. See you next time.

SMOOTH OPERATORS - Bab al Shams Newbie Drive Report Not used to leading Newbie convoys, I chose an area that allows to drive smoothly for quite a long stretch, with multiple exit areas, and a relatively forgiving terrain (yet with the opportunity to increase the challenge according to the convoy's potential). All drivers responded brilliantly, completing the excursion with minimum refusals, and only one stuck (quickly dealt with). Congratulations to @Mahmoud Hamzawy for executing his first Second Lead with precision and care, and to @David Ortells for his support at Center Forward, from which he guided the few refusals, and the only recovery. Perfect drive by the Jeep contingent (@Andrei, @Hatim Patharia, @Vijaysekhar, @Shaaz Sha and @Arun Mathew), the other component of the FJ pack @Christian Andras and @Anand Nataraj, the lone XTerra driver: well done all of you. A special mention goes to @Hardik Mody, for managing with great attention his Montero (the less "desert oriented" car of the bunch), overcoming his initial hesitancy, and crossing all obstacles with good care and ease. Finally, special thanks to @Wrangeld for his always vigilant presence, which this time was made easier and more relaxed by the convoy's discipline and smooth driving. Smooth is the word that comes to mind more often when describing this drive, as smooth it was. This should not be taken for granted on a Newbie drive, considering we also traversed a couple of quite tricky technical areas, where I was expecting many more complications. Apparently less "scary" to a greener driver than the big, tall dunes, these technical areas are everywhere in the desert, and their crossing will need to be mastered just as much as the apparently more fun crossing of famous, more spectacular landmarks. The convoy did brilliantly, finessing its way through some small but treacherous steps, without damaging bumpers, digging itself into soft sand, or needing any major redirection. The other technical skill we practiced on the long range dunes of this sector was side sloping, which also went....smoothly, with only a couple of refusals, due to soft sand. My congratulations to the convoy, as I did not see any of the fishtailing, sliding off the dune, or fighting gravity that sometimes are seen at this level: all cars took the correct approach, used the right momentum, and exited with good form. We also enjoyed a bit of night driving, in the last part of the itinerary, through the mud formations and the sand track toward the exit. The statistics testify the smoothness of this drive in terms of its length and speed: 45.4 Km., driven at an average moving speed of 23 Km/h, in 2:34 hours time. Good Job everybody, and see you soon.

No worries @asifk. Enjoy your visitors. Will see you on the next drive.

Sorry for this @Onlyjunaid. Take good care and see you next time. Hi @Roopesh babu. Unfortunately, as @Frederic mentioned, it will not be possible to join this drive as an Absolute Newbie. Also, without a radio nobody is allowed to join any drive. Please sign up for next week's Absolute Newbie drive, then you will be able to drive in a Newbie convoy, but only with a radio. Thanks for your interest.

Bravo @sertac.

Thanks @Pancho. Well noted.

Thanks @Chaitanya D. See you on Saturday.

Dear Desertnauts. Time for sharing the convoy's order for this Saturday's PM drive. Considering the complexity of the terrain, you will notice the list below is made up in a way that, when and if necessary, the second half of the convoy, the one just behind the Center Forward position, may be redirected slightly, to make sure it can proceed on clearer ground. With this in mind, we will drive as follows: @Kalahari in Second Lead @Shiju Manuel in #3 place @asifk will be #4 @Desert Dweller at #5 @Chaitanya D as car #6 @Srikumar will be the Center Forward, and the first lead of the second half of the convoy (when it will be necessary to separate it) @Pancho will be in position #8 @Najeeb Mohammed will follow at #9 @Rinelle Sanaani will take position #10 @Febin Frederic is going to be #11 @Wrangeld will Sweep the convoy. Considering the vicinity of Barracuda Resort (and its Thunder Road Grill), the meeting can be either: at the Grill for lunch, at 1:30PM at the Emirates Motorplex for deflation. So far, for lunch I have confirmations from Kalahari, Wrangled with Jeepie, and Desert Dweller with Foxtrot Oscar (for those who only know members by their nicknames, this will be a good opportunity to unveil their true names 😉). Anyone who wishes to enjoy some good pub food (or pizza and pasta) please confirm by tomorrow. Those who will join at the deflation point, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARRIVE BY 3:00 PM (30 minutes earlier than indicated): given the tricky nature of the drive, it will be better, and safer, to start a little earlier, to make sure we can exit before it gets dark (sunset will be at 6:26PM, and darkness is supposes to fall at 7:16PM). Please make sure that all drivers have a compressor, as we will be exiting quite far from an inflation station. I am not going to mention all the others tools that all of you should be carrying in your cars, by now. With all this in mind, I wish you have a good end of the week, a nice Friday drive (s), for those who cannot stay away from the desert even for 1 day, and will be seeing you on Saturday for this first exploration drive in RAK.

Dear Desertnauts, it's time for tomorrow afternoon's convoy order. We will proceed as follows: @Mahmoud Hamzawy in Second Lead @Hardik Mody will follow at #3 @Andrei at #4 @Anand Nataraj in #5 position @Hatim Patharia with the #6 spot @David Ortells will be our Center Forward @Onlyjunaid following at #8 @Vijaysekhar with jersey #9 @Shaaz Sha in #10 place @Arun Mathew with car #11 @Christian Andras in at #12 @Wrangeld will Sweep the convoy. Be advised that the meeting and deflation point is along a dirt track, turning right on the Road from Bab al Shams, approximately 1 Km in. You may refill at Al Qudra Parking lot ADNOC's station, then take the road toward Bab al Shams. We will meet a little earlier than previous afternoon drives, at 4:00 PM SHARP: the goal is to deflate quickly, have a briefing and depart as swiftly as possible. Once on site, please tune into Carnity Channel 2 (446.031) Make sure all of you have at least a good shovel (not a "spoon"), and possibly a compressor (as we plan to exit e few Km from the nearest station), and most of all front and back tow points in good conditions. As mentioned in an earlier post, there will be no need for special night lights, as we plan to exit before it gets too dark. We still hope to be enjoying a nice sunset !! See you all tomorrow. Have a nice Thursday evening.

@Frederic, @Chaitanya D - I have started using MyTrails following Sri's advice. I find it useful for my planning as you can choose from a huge variety of satellite maps. Some are much more accurate than Google Maps, even though the one I have chosen (an earlier version of Microsoft Maps) is a little old, and doesn't show the latest buildings or fences that have been put up recently (Ex. Solar Park is a fraction of it's current dimension). Nonetheless, it allows me to zoom in with great detail, and plan multiple exit points, fun areas, as well as places to avoid (if possible). Having said this, and having seen Fred's post, I will certainly look into Gaia as well 😁!!

@David Ortells and @Christian Andras Welcome to the drive. Please refer to the drive's info above. I will come back with the convoy order and last details later in the afternoon. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. @Anand Nataraj this is a reminder that all drivers should have read and acknowledged the Covid-19 rules (by clicking on the "Totally Agree" icon). According to a last count you still need to comply. Please do so before tomorrow evening. Thanks a lot for the cooperation. Hi @Christian Andras I have just added you.

Wonderful news @Tbone. Your dedication and passion are commendable. And you are a very good driver. Well done!!

@David Ortells I have already added you to the drive. If you change your mind please sign out. Thanks

Hi @Andrei. It will be nice to meet you. We plan to exit just before getting dark, so no special lights are needed. Look forward to seeing you on Friday. Hello @David Ortells. The drive is still open, so you are welcome to join. You can sign in. See you on Friday.

A @Anand Nataraj this is a reminder that all drivers should have read and acknowledged the Covid-19 rules (by clicking on the "Totally Agree" icon). According to a last count you still need to comply. Please do so before tomorrow evening. Thanks a lot for the cooperation.