Wrangeld

Congrats @Yousef Alimadadi. Welcome to the Fewbie world.

Congrats @Rajeevan Vickneswaran welcome to the Fewbie world

Congrats @Mehmet Volga enjoy the move to Fewbie.

Congrats @Janarthan love that new Xterra and now it's gonna great some amazing workouts.

Congrats @Leo Francis looking forward to driving with you some time.

Congrats @Magellan you'll really enjoy your Fewbie life!

@Colin Jordan since the first day you arrived and every drive since your boundelss enthusiasm and immense skill have brought you just rewards. It's great to have you on any drive and now knowing you'll be joining the more extreme adventures I am looking forward to seeing just how far this goies.

@Foxtrot Oscar this is a well deserved promo that shows just what it means when you borrow a car and then control it so, so well. Can't wait to see you out on more drives and enjoy you having to get the shovel out ...

Yes, it's formulaic and I destest the 'Parts blagging ... " bit. Fuzz is a really sound guy and I watch it largely because he is a great teacher and has some good ideas ... like electrostatically charged paint the lights up

Not sure if anyone else here watches the show Car SOS, but they did a treatment on one of their restorations (a VW Camper van if i am not wrong) where this paint was used. In the right hands, and I am a real fan of Fuzz Townsend, the addition of the pain had an amazing impact on the vehicle and gave it a real wow factor. It does not change the color of the paint on the vehicle so should not be a problem in registration as the base color would stay constant.

The One Where An Unfortunate Reputation MIght Start to be Formed Yesterday afternoon was a bit strange, starting with the confusion over how to get to the proper starting point at Badayer Shops. In the blazing temperature, it was excellent to see almost everyone wating in the parking area with the others arriving on time - having also been a bit confused by the ROAD CLOSED sign that MIss Google Maps has not yet been informed of! A word of warning to any trip lead looking ot start at Badayer and move to Iftar Bowl - enter the desert from the first roudnabout or you will like @Emmanuel end up in Al Madam before you can turn round. The end result, we entered the desert a bit later than planned. As it was showing 54C on the termerature guage in my car the later the better! With @Jeepie at the wheel, leading for 2nd time and @Colin Jordan in second lead, we moved off. It would not be an understatement to say that we had three recoveries within the first 500 meters and this was the theme of the day. As mentioned, it is a bit worrying that for the second week in a row the drive was defined more by the number of stops and recoveries needed than the driving fun. The summer sand was punishingly soft and a heavy long wheel based car will inevitably find the going harder than the three SWB Jeeps that handled the conditions quite well (I think @E.C. TAN who was sweep only had one or two moments - and he had to gind a new route after the sand had been churned by much bigger vehicles). A welcome back to the drives to @Roshan Abraham who was acting as centre forward, but even for an experienced driver thse conditions were not easy. The intention was to get to Iftar bowl and play. The challenge was that the desert from this direction was unforgiving, technical, and for newish fewbies a big challenge. @Shiju Manuel, @RohanH @Chaitanya D we tried valiantly to get a route that was less challenging from the start point and all of you will have learned from the experience - momentum is your friend (whether you approach a dune straight on or try to criss cross) and with a longer vehicle that becomes even more critical when the dunes are soft like they were yesterday. After the first hour and a half, i took over leading duties from @Jeepie who had done a magnificent job of taking the convoy forward and on a route that on any other day would probably have been less challenging. Every route she or I took seemed to end up with almost certain knowledge that if others tried to follow through the soft stuff, there would be even more stucks - and after the extreme revcovery of last week, I for one felt a bit once bitten, twice shy. A massive, massive thanks goes to @Emmanuel who shoveld, tugged and coached more in one afternoon than in probably many before all rolled up in one. And a massive thanks to everyone for your patience and persistence. We decided to exit sooner than planned, simply because the prospect of digging each other out in the dark after such a tiring afternoon seemed the right thing to do. For sure, next Badayer trip wil have a different entry point so we can get to the bowl and have some play time. So, back to that reputation thing ... second week of leading drives and second week of drivers having multiple stucks. We will see if that results in the take up for any new drives falling off! In my earlier reports I have written about the excitement and challenges of moving up from newbie and the experiences of what it it like being promoted in this game. The move from being a participant, even with responsibilities as centre forward or sweep, to actually planning and leading a drive is also a big leap. It creates renewed respect and admiration for the amazing marshalls of whom we have the benefit in this club. Learning to lead effectively and safely is not something that is going to happen the first time you sit behind the wheel of the lead car. There is an even steeper learning curve than when you move from other promotions. @Gaurav, @Rahimdad @Frederic @Srikumar @Asif Hussain @Emmanuel Hats off to you. You make the whole leading thing look so effortless - just like taking a drive out in the sand! Practice makes (well, not quite perfect) us all better. With the continued patience of our club members, I will continue to hone these skills in the aspiration of leading in some way comparable with these guys. I am keeping in mind that @Jeepie and I started this journey with Carnity in November last year. There's still a long way to go and lot of fun to be had. Bring it on. See you soon in the sand.

The One Where the Reputation was Under Threat @Rahimdad has a reputation for leading Newbie drives which are exciting and challenging and where there are no Stucks. This morning's drive stressed out that reputation beyond recognition ... but let'sget to that later. Everyone had deflated and put up their flags by the time our fearless leader arrived. This meant that with the briefing delivered, we were under way in record time. There was quite a large convoy today, and it was great to have @Vanessa8580 in 2nd lead, @Brette in centre forward position and @Jeepie sweeping up at the rear. As usual, the pace was great, the route interesting and enough challenges for everyone. We even had a wonderful breeze blowing so that sitting in the car with the windows open (yes guys, that is an option) was warm but not oppressive. I thought we were in for a relaxing, problem free day ... For about another ten minutes, until we had our first refusals. Thankfully, we were able to help with instructed self recoveries and I commend everyone for retaining their cool when things did not go as planned. The first major stuck of the day saw @Mehmet Volga recovered by @Brette for him to find himself stuck and in need of a quick tug. I think I ought to say here that for what ever reason it was not @Brette's day. It seems that on more than one occasion he did his job as centre forward perfectly, only to find himself refusing or stuck once the recovery was over. It turns out the mighty beast was suffering a transmission oil leak as well, which probably has some impact. It took almost 1 hour 40 to get to the base of Pink Rock because of the number of problems. BEFORE COVID on the same basic route plan we had arrived here within an hour. The sand can be a very changeable thing. @Yousef Alimadadi found he needs to train his Pajero better as it was initially difficult to climb Pink Rock. After a few attempts, he was up and over and the r est of the convoy climbed the hill without incident. The route to 2nd December cafe from there is a challenge for Newbies at the best of time. With the extremely soft sand today we faced a lot of Stucks and refusals. @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ needed a quick tug, @George Francis had a moment and @Brette needed recovering again. All thos took time so we really had no moment for play before we ended up on a track again and out to reinflate. There were some drivers really deserving of an 'honorable' mention, navigating their way round with aplomb. @Gregory Perkin excellent drive, and contributions to the seniors to advise on the situation as well as helping out other drivers, @Chaitanya D looks like you are getting to grips with the Xterra (we will see a bit more in the Fewbie drive ...) @Magellan you really have the FJ well under control. @Denizzalbayrak @Anish S the fact we did not hear anythjjng from you speaks volumes. Most improved driver of the day goes to @VipinShetty. Following your feet finding drive last week, you handled today's challenges really well and get extra credit for having no hesitation to ask @Rahimdad to help on a t echnical section where you felt unsure. Brilliant. As we are always told by the seniors, there is no shame in getting stuck or asking for help. We exited by 10.30 as planned, having all had another enjoyable morning, and I think it would be appreciated, if nothing else to retain the reputation of the superman that led us fantastically today if noone says anything about the stucks. See you soon in the sand

Hi @Lorenzo Candelpergher Lorenzo, We are all 100% in agreement that family comes first. Thanks for the response. Yes, it would have opened up a space for someone else to join and that's apprecaited by everyone as spots are more limited than they used to be. See you soon in the sand.

@Colin Jordan @Shiju Manuel @Lorenzo Candelpergher @RohanH @Chaitanya D @Roshan Abraham @E.C. TAN @Emmanuel @Jeepie Thanks for signing up for the Badayer/Iftar Bowl drive tomorrow afternoon, evening. HIS DRIVE IS NOW CLOSED It's a lovely Thursday morning in Dubai/Sharjah and by this time tomorrow evening , We hope to be out of the desert having visited Iftar Bowl, and enjoyed a Fewbie drive that should be a fun and challenging drive. The drive tomorrow is planned to take us through some excellent long wide dunes so we can practice driving across the dunes. We will also try to pay attention to get some more basic practie in some less practiced skills in the Newbie drives such as criss corssing and ridge riding. There should be plenty of time for 'play', depending on the number of stucks and how busy the dunes are at that time of the afternoon. So below is the convoy list, so you know where you are and are expected to be. Radio Channel will be Carnity Channel 4 for this drive. If for some reason you did not yet program your radio, DO IT NOW. There is an excellent guide on how to do this written by @Frederic. There will be no time for nor anyone avaialble to reprogram your radio tomorrow morning. If you are really in trouble with the radio then ping a message here and we will try to help you through the prcess. So they can prepare themselves mentally. 2nd lead - @Colin Jordan, Centre Forward @Roshan Abraham @E.C. TAN will sweep and @Emmanuel will be flying sweep. Sand conditions: The sand is soft and will suck you in, especially where we are headed ... but more on that tomorrow in the drive brief. Please deflate and get your flag erected as soon as you arrive so we can get moving ASAP. If you can move away from the stores at the meeting point that would be best so that we are not seen to congregate or 'gather. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow afternoon. Should anything unexpected happen and you are unable to attend, please let us know. Otherwise, we will leave without you. Attendees Level Car Radio Pos # Wrangeld Advance Jeep Wrangler Y 1 Colin Jordan Fewbie Jeep Wrangler Y 2 Shjiu Manuel Fewbie Mitsubishi Pajero LWB Y 3 Chaitanya D Fewbie Nissan Xterra Y 4 Roshan Abraham Fewbie Mitsubishi Pajero LWB Y 5 RohanH Fewbie Mitsubishi Pajero LWB Y 6 E.C Tan Fewbie Jeep Wrangler SWB Y 7 Emmanuel Marshal Nissan Xterra Y 8

Hi Febin Thanks for the update. Appreciated by everyone.

Good morning eager drivers. With thanks to @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @E.C. TAN, @Colin Jordan, @Chaitanya D, @Shiju Manuel for hacing doen so already, this is a final reminder for @Febin Frederic, @RohanH, @Jorge Stepniak Felippe and @Roshan Abraham to confirm their agreement to the COVID requirements on this thread. To be even more specific, you need to confirm on the original post above (not the calendar) that you totally agree. This applies to each COVID drive. There is no blanket confirmation that can be signed off once. or you will be removed from the drive when it closes later in the week. Thanks in advacne for your cooperation.

Hi @E.C. TAN we will be ok with road lights. It is not a night drive.

Personally I thought that it was a warning sign that the gather cover had a small crack in it. My mistake 🤦‍♂️

Welcome to the COVID 19 "new normal" lifestyle with restrictions and precautions for everyone safety. Moving forward and respecting authorities guidance all desert drives will be done under strict control. No Gathering | No Briefing | No BBQ | No Eating Together | No Touching | No Hugging MUST READ: Not following these rules and precautions = Not allowed to drive. We are only allowed to drive through the desert, the same way as if we are driving on the road now. Even though DUne Bashing is permitted with the loosening of soem COVID restrictions, the restrictions over social distancing still apply. So we will only do desert driving and stay sitting inside our cars at all the times and leave the drive without socializing or coming close to each other. Just like before we like to continue our desert drives through out the year, but this time we need your immense support to understand the strict control and to help everyone follow them all the time. How to maintain "STRICT" Social Distancing Meeting point will be set slightly (100m - 200m) inside the desert track. Please pay close attention to the meetings point as these have changed to allow enough space for everyone to arrive and deflate safely. Please make sure that you deflate quickly and off the tarmac. There should be only one person outside the vehicle when deflating before reaching the meeting point. While deflating tires, stop cars 10 meters away from any other car. Drive signup on calendar will be closed on Thursday morning by 9 AM. Convoy numbering and briefing will be posted here on this drive post before 6 PM on Thursday. All participants need to read & acknowledge the briefing by clicking "Totally Agree" reaction Failure to acknowledge the "Totally Agree" on the concersation thread will result in your being removed from the attendee list. Switch on your radio when you reach the meeting point on the set frequency advised by the trip lead in the pre drive convoy numbering and briefing here in this thread. Once everyone reaches to the meeting point, everyone except for people deflating or putting up a flag must stay inside the car at all the times. Trip lead will do the roll call, convoy numbering recap, critical briefing over the radio. Any suggestions or issues will be discussed over the radio too. You can also speak to other members through the radio only. So please make sure that your radio battery is fully charged. No radio = no drive. If your radio is not set to all the Carnity channels in advance there will be no time to reprogram on site. If you do not have the radio set up = no drive. Once all set, trip lead will start the drive as before. Refusal and Recoveries with Social Distancing Every drive will have 1 lead Marshal and 1 or 2 supporting senior members/crew. Whenever there is a stuck or refusal, only Marshal / Senior Member / Crew is allowed to handle the situation. Everyone else including the stuck car driver, stay inside the car - AT ALL TIMES. Marshal / Senior Member / Crew is only allowed to step out to access the situation and do the recoveries: They will wear mask and gloves at all times when they are outside their car. They will try to help self recover through the radio guidance. If not they will use required recovery gear and do the needful (shovel, tug or winch, as required). If at any time Marshal require help, then only you are allowed to step out by wearing face mask and gloves at all times. Drive completion and inflation For now and until the COVID restrictions are lifted, there will not be any gathering or sitting down together for food-break like before. Once drive is finished, after reaching the tarmac, everyone is requested to move away 50-100 meters before starting their inflation. For drivers having no compressor, can head to the near by fuel station. If drive is ending at a place where there is no fuel station near by, then trip lead will inform in advance so that drivers having their own compressor can join only. Now Strictly no more sharing of compressors, radio, shovel or any recovery gear, at any times. Mandatory things you require to attend the drive Face mask - at least TWO face mask is needed in case one get damage or fly away. Disposable rubber gloves - at least two sets are needed. Wear face mask and gloves at all the times, when you are out of your car. Carry plenty of hand sanitizer and object sanitizer (spray). Use your sanitizers generously, whenever you step out to help or recover. Sanitize your hands before getting back into your car. Sanitize your recovery gears, if you have used them. Fully charged radio - without any excuse - No radio = No drive. Shovel - Must for every car, to do little self recovery. Safety flag - Must for every car, like before. Compressor - If joining the drives that is ending far from the fuel station. Mandatory precaution that you need to take at all times Do not step out of your car UNLESS/OTHERWISE advice by Marshal / Senior Member / Crew. No shaking hands, hugs or touching each other. No sharing of food, drinks or recovery tools. If you are not feeling well, please stay at home and take a lot of rest. If you have travel in last 14 days, then please do not attend this drive. If you feel unwell during the drive, please let trip lead know so he can plan an early exit. Not more than 3 pax in a car and if all 3 aren't living together, then they should wear the mask inside the car too. Drive Details Level: Fewbie and all above - NO NEWBIES ALLOWED. When: 26 June 2020, Friday. Meeting time: 4.00 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Action Plan: Afternoon to Evening drive + includes up to 1 hour of easy night drive Meeting Point: Badayer Shops - https://goo.gl/maps/ejocFKnH54fnhNRX9 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: 8:00 PM End Point: ADNOC - Al Madam https://goo.gl/maps/NNuzbqdgQ3UaS9Ty8 LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 12 cars only. RSVP will close on Thursday - 9 AM. 1 Lead Marshal + 1 Senior Members + 10 Members. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members arriving without all the required equipment 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 CALENDAR

The One with the Master Class If you were on @Gaurav's Newbie drive yesterday through Al Qudra, think yourself extremely fortunate. Forget the refusals and stucks for a moment because what we all received yesterday was a master class in dune crossing: one of the most important techniques to learn in off roading if you want to progress and take the hobby further (and further into the wilderness). With everyone at the meeting point at the designated time, we did had a slight delay before moving off. @bunty_and_pops acted as second lead (and did a great job) with our newbie @Vipin Shettydriving the mighty Cherokee and @Magellan, @Janarthan (the new entrant in the Xterra club) and @Anish S making up the front of the convoy ahead of @Jeepie and myself. After the experiences leading the drive in the morning (see separate post if you wish) myself and @Jeepie truly enjoyed the start of this drive as we zig zagged through the cream white sand of AL Qudra. @Gaurav kept a fantastic pace - as did the convoy behind and I am sure that the more experienced drivers toward the back of the convoy @Tbone (another convert to the Xterra afer, as he put it, his Hummer 'retired hurt'), @E.C. TAN, @Rajeevan Vickneswaran and @siddharth maheshwari with @Ale Vallecchi enjoyed the opportunity to ride the dunes as the sand was quite forgiving and stable. As is often the case, it's the things we fear most that cause the problems and crossing the top of a dune, be it straight or criss crossing involves a moment of trust, and that milisecond of doubt is when the momentum is lost and problems are encountered. Even experienced drivers like @Tbone find that they can get stuck if there is that moment of hesitation. It's true to say that @Vipin Shetty did find the going tough in places, but that's what these drives are for. Practice, learn, get help from the seniors and deal with the challenges safely. Getting his car out from a couple of the stucks provided really valuable lessons as they were unusual and required quite a bit of thinking to find the best solution to recover. We also had the opportunity to help out another vehicle whose tyre had shredded in the heat and who did not have the correct tools to replace their wheel. Another lesson in desert etiquette. Even if we think that someone is unwise to travel into the sand alone (less than 3 cars), help them out when they are in trouble. So back to the master class. Not only were we shown how to approach, crest and then turn off a dune, @Gaurav too the time to explain clearly how to do this in words - and then found us moment after moment where this could be put into practice. As we moved to the more technical dunes, there were more challenges. There always are, but we all made it through and went in search of some more playable dunes on the other side of the nature reserve. On that side of Al Qudra, however, the sand was softer and as soon as we entered the dunes Gaurav decided to re route. That was a few seconds too late as we already had a recovery to make ... and then even Gaurav got cested on a dune. Our kinetic ropes will need the week until we are back in the sand to recover as there was quite some work to do with them over this weekend and to get the stuck cars free. It was moving towards dark so @Gaurav led us out to the tarmac through a more direct route a few kms from the gas station where everyone was able to reinflate and make their way home. So, another great drive to have enjoyed and even more lessons learned.

The One with lots of Stucks I am writing this covered head to toe in sand. As @Jeepie will tell you, I hate sand, but nonetheless, there's a big grin on my face after what has been, to say the least, a challenging morning for everyone (with a few honourable exceptions). And it all started so well. Everyone on time, almost everyone at the right start point and everyone with a compressor. A rolling brief so we could get moving quickly and a brilliant lead by @Jeepie designed to wake everyone out of their slumber. Perhaps we should have noted the early problems and a very early pop out from @Lorenzo Candelpergher (glad to have made your son's day) and understood this was not going to be an easy day. The sand is deceiving and today it was truly summer soft. Which meant our journey to fossil rock took longer than planned. @Foxtrot Oscar did an amazing job in second lead throughout and in this early stage was up with the pace and any challenge. Despite looking for more accessible routes, there were more and more refusals and Stucks.... but nothing that could not be handled. @Nizam Deen gets a big thank you from @Vanessa8580 for being her first tow off a crest. The ropes would be busy today, but we did not realise quite how much. @Ale Vallecchi and @Frederic were busy at the back of the convoy. Not surprising because the sand was getting churned. @asifk in the Pajero and @J J and @Nacho handled this admirably in their jeeps. It seems the Toyotas and Mitsubishi teams found the goimg a little tougher @Rizwanm2 @Jolly Abraham had a few moments. @Jorge Stepniak Felippe with the LR4 even found the going challenging. Eventually we made it to the dirt track with the choice of ascending Fossil Rock or not. We decided against it because we hoped to make it to Faya. It was not to be. Technical dunes, which are not the easiest to navigate, but an essential part of the development of driving skills proved to be filled with soft sand and an as we went cross country toward Faya and the refusals and stucks increased. Even trying to navigate through existing routes and keeping away bigger dunes, the delays continued. And then, the big stuck. Or as we like to think of it, the learning moment as @Nizam Deen got bogged down in a sticky bowl, and adding insult to injury with a pop out. The unpredictability of this hobby showed its fangs as @Frederic managed to get the recovery vehicle stuck as well, leaving us with a lengthy and difficult double recovery to manage. A massive thanks to everyone who waited patiently while we handled these recoveries. Both needed multiple tugs, and repair of a pop out. Once we got under way again it was already late so we headed for a track to exit. On the way we saw a lot of playable dunes, but given the time and the heat we did not want to risk more people getting stuck so we exited and inflated. So ... Faya will have to wait (again) or will be the first objective of the day. For the new Fewbies, I guess you know now why promotion does not come so quick. Be careful what you wish for. For everyone esle, thanks for the great discipline and the teamwork that was shown to get everyone out. Perhaps we did not cover as many kms as we wanted, but we learned a lot, and getting out of these tricky situations will help as you encounter more difficult terrain in the future. Thanks especially to the seniors on the trip @Frederic @Ale Vallecchi @Jeepie and @Vanessa8580 as it was a busy day and everyone did an amazing job. A quick reminder of one or two things. Fewbie and turning up without a shovel .... I will just leave that there. Shoes ... I challenge anyone still wearing flip flops or sandals to be useful in the sand when it's this hot. See you soon in the sand.

Hi @RohanH Apologies, just saw the note. Unfortunately for you, we are full on this drive and as yet, there are no people that have given notice to cancel. Please do keep looking out for the drive posts. We are trying to add more drives where possible so keep your eyes peeled.

Hi Mr. Shiju - never nice to read on a feed. Hope everythign turns out OK with you.

Great question. Depending on your vehicle I would advise starting on 13 psi. After last week's drive where we had a lot of problems because we had not done this early enough, we will stop after 45 minutes to check the levels and review if people are having problem.