Wrangeld

The Unexpected Newbie Lead The Carnity Pink Rockers received a surprise this morning, hearing that instead of Gaurav leading the drive, I would have that pleasure. And a pleasure it was. A large convoy of enthusiastic drivers, weather finally no longer hotter than the sun and the confidence that no matter what might happen on the convoy, the Master @Gaurav was on hand, with @Mohamed Seidam ably supporting. The end of the summer has brought back more drivers to the dunes and the popularity of Pink Rock brought out multiple convoys this morning. I was starting to think that club flags should be color coded so we can keep track when all the other drivers arrive. Either way, looking for a virgin route was a great challenge, and one we more or less achieved. What did I take away from the drive? That leading Newbie drives is harder than leading more experienced drivers. The margin for error is much smaller and tighter. A crossing that looks simple causes a real challenge for a Newbie. And.... you still need to make the drive suficiently challenging so that every driver can take something away from the experience. Thanks, everyone for your patience today. Looking forward to many more Newbie experiences. See you soon in the sand.

Congrats @tcarrimjee

Congrats @Alexander Alcala. Look forward to seeing you on a fewbie drive soon.

Congrats @Franco Swart. Hope to see you on a drive soon.

Congrats @Javier Lucero. Hope to see you on a drive some time soon.

Congrats @Anand Nataraj

Brilliant post @Ajiesh George Kannankara - with some nice reminders of the drive. It was a pleasure to have you and your crew on hand and as mentioned in the main drive report your enthusiasm to help out where ever possible is really appreciated. The new Carnity leaders all start out as members that have as much interest in driving through the sand as getting deep into it to help out the team. When the drone work is ready, please let us know. I am looking forward to the next chance to drive together.

Ho @andy_macdxb I am reading this as a drive lead of another drive this weekend. It's probably not that well know/realized that we share some of these experiences of the drives together, but the double pop out story made it to 'dispatches' this week. Good that you got home, however slowly, and can look at what needs to be done to remove what ever it is that is rubbing against the wheels. Having just bought a Pajero and moved from the Jeep, it's clear there is a llot more 'stuff' in the wheel arch! I actually wanted to come back on the apology that you made that it took time to get your problem sorted. Why, because 10 days ago, we had a similar situation of a pop out taking around an hour of driving time from the drive. It's part of the game Andy. Carnity is more about the team work needed to get all the drivers into and out of the desert safely, than pushing aggressively to drive, drive, drive when we finally hit the sand. Everyone learns from sorting out this sort of stuck, because these new situations prepare us for the next time it might happen. If all we wanted an easy fast drive, we could just follow the standard tracks and routes and never deviate - and leave someone behind who delayed us. Hoping you get your Paj back on track soon and that we will get a chance to drive together once it's sorted.

Congrats @Ashy look forward to driving with you soon.

Congrats @Sinol enjoy the new rank

Really pleased for you @Nivin

Some Thought From The Front of The Convoy It's often more about the journey than the destination I really enjoyed today's drive. It was full of natural beauty, surprises, little treats and incredible teamwork. Sometimes, after a drive you reflect and ask what went wrong, today I was focused the whole day on what went right and why. What went right? First and foremost, the Carnity spirit is alive and well. We may not be able to meet but the teamwork shown today, the concern for each other, the offers to support and help, the digging are all part of what makes a Carnity drive special. Second and equally important the team members stepping up to the plate today. @Christian Andras, @Tamas Hoffmann were immense as our recovery crew. You were spectacular ... although I do hope someone has a photo of your joint crested vehicles ... @Ashok chaturvedi flawless as my second lead and truly the other drive members were all on hand, offering support because, let's face it there was quite a lot of digging needed. Third, and connected, getting to actually meet our reverse @Ale Vallecchi convoy in the middle of the dunes. To paraphrase, "I love it when a plan comes together". We were even able, as a result of this, to offer @Miguel Ibarbia the chance to join the right convoy. Fourth, we had a great drive, technically. Good play areas, dune crossing exercises (yes, you might not have known, but those cross overs could have been 'redirected to be much simpler ... but then, what would you have learned?) Some new types of terrain and a lot of soft, soft sand. Fifth, driver development. @jodha singh shekhawat made massive strides in the space of one week. @Sreejith Sreenivasan the LR2 offers challenges because there is no low gear, but you started handling this much better by the end of the drive. @Nizam Deen the Prado is more and more under your control, you need to decide if moving forward it is the Prado that you master, or not.@Sajit Modiyil and @Hennie Schoeman you are both showing why the Wrangler and Xterra are excellent drive choices. Jennie you said at one point it was the vehicle ... but neither of you is anything without the other. Special call out to @Ajiesh George Kannankara at this point. A Y62, full and the drone ... and your willingness and offers to help every time. I know that Tamas and Chris really appreciated that, as did I. Sixth. This area is stunning. We saw gazelle, camels and incredible scenery. We are so, so lucky to have this on the doorstep. Perhaps we did not want where we wanted ... another 45 minutes we would have been there ... and maybe there was some dissatisfaction to our stopping at the exit point, but all in all a great drive. Look out for the return journey, because for sure I will be asking Ale if he wants to swap directions next time round. See you soon in the sand..

@Hennie Schoeman when we carried out the recon on this drive a week ago, the gate in the fence was obvious and open beacuse it is an entry point to some of the Margham farms. In the event that we arrive there tomorrow morning and for what ever reason is it closed, there are alternative entry points to which I will lead the convoy but there is the chance to park on the outer side of the fence safely and wait. It's a great question, because we have found that fences and the like are erected from one week to the next in the past - but I am hopeful that in the space of the time we did the recon nothing new has happened.

Dear Relay Riders, Please find attached the convoy numbers, roles and responsibilities for the drive tomorrow morning. Morning Fewbie Desert Drive Margham 25 Sept 2020 Attendees Level Car Radio Pos # Wrangeld Expert Mitsubishi Pajero SWB Y 1 Lead Ashok Chaturvedi Fewbie Mitsubishi Pajero LWB Y 2 2nd lead Sajit Modiyil Fewbie Nissan Xterra Y 3 Nizam Deen Fewbie Toyota Landcruiser Prado Y 4 Melenany Fewbie Ford F150 Y 5 Tamas Hoffmann Fewbie Mitsubishi Pajero LWB Y 6 CF Ajiesh George Kannankara Fewbie Nissan Patrol Y62 Y 7 Jodha singh shekhawat Fewbie Nissan Xterra Y 8 Muzamil Hussain Fewbie Jeep Wrangler 9 Hennie Schoeman Fewbie Jeep Wrangler Y 10 Christian Andres Fewbie Toyota FJ Cruiser Y 11 SW This is a new area, so there will be a bit of exploration tomorrow as we find our way through some new Fewbie territory for Carnity as a club. Think of yourselves as adventurers, discovering new tracks and trails. We hope to meet up with our 'reverse' drive and hand over the baton, but there is no guarantee. Everything depends on how the convoy performs and how we work as a team to support each other out on the drive. We will be using Carnity radion channel 4. The deflation point is inside the fence, off the road. Please do, however keep the appropriate distance as per COVID rules. Any questions, please let us know. We will try to leave on time and get as much out of the experience as possible. @Christian Andras @Hennie Schoeman @muzamil hussain @jodha singh shekhawat @Ajiesh George Kannankara @Tamas Hoffmann @Melenany @Nizam Deen @Sajit Modiyil @Ashok chaturvedi We do have one waitlisted driver if anyone is unable to come, so please let uis know now if that's likely.

@Heisem you are a braver man than me. Importing from here to Poland ... I considered trying the same into NL where prices are even higher, but when I looked at the import charges, transport and the fact that the GCC models might not have the same catalytic converters as needed in EU, I decided to just buy and enjoy here.

Dear Relay Riders. Carnity is very pleased to present you with another, brand new, area to visit during our weekend drives. This time, we have explored, and chosen for you, the stretch of dunes between the farming villages of Margham and Lahbab. This is an area that some of you may know also for the presence of one the Royal villas. Perhaps for this reason, it is very little visited by off-roading clubs, with the few tracks that one encounters mostly made by locals. The terrain is mostly made of low yellow colored dunes, not very high and with frequent openings between cordons, that allow an intricate, yet quite safe, navigation. Some low bushy vegetation is present (as almost everywhere else this year) but less dense than in other areas nearby. There is also a very nice play area, of relatively taller dunes, presenting some large sand bowls. The skills required to complete the drive successfully will be controlled driving over technical dunes, side sloping techniques, and principles of ridge riding and crossing over (low dunes). In order to allow more drivers to enjoy this nice new playground, we have decided to launch the "Relay drive" format. As explained in the post's Action Plan, we have organized 2 separate convoys (this one and Ale's), that will follow roughly the same path, but each leaving at opposite ends, and exiting at the other convoy' starting point. The 2 convoys plan to meet halfway through the drive to exchange a symbolic "baton" (like in a relay track race). We think the "relay" format is a safe way to drive 2 convoys through the same area, rather than creating one convoy, too large to manage effectively.

I am also up for this @Lorenzo Candelpergher

It's friday

Congrats @Anish S As probably the only other driver sharing the driving duties, and who knows what it's like to be a passenger, I am so pleased for you with this promotion. Enjoy the new challenges, and continuing to give the incredible support you do.

You're waitlisted.

Congratulations @Hatim Patharia. Looking forward to driving with you soon.

Congratulations @Shaaz Sha. Look forward to driving with you soon.

Congratulations @Ajiesh George Kannankara loom forward to seeing you on a fewbie.drive soon.

Congratulations @Ammar Naji well done. Looking forward to seeing you on a drive soon.

Congrats @Yousef Alimadadi delighted to see this promotion. Well deserved.