Wrangeld

Every recovery is a learning moment @Jun Zamora If we don't get stuck we think that it's too easy and don't gain much from the experience. No doubt the next time when we are at the top of Fossil Rock the lessons we all got will be remembered.

You know you are at risk of addiction when: Waking up at 5am on a Friday morning makes complete sense. You’ll drive through ridiculously thick fog to get to a meeting point in the middle of nowhere hoping that you won’t be late. You are already making calculations about what additional equipment you still need to buy. You hate sand, but you start to justify that the sand in the desert is completely different to the sand at the beach. You start looking into upgrade kits for your car. Woe betide anyone that crosses you on Saturday if you don’t get your weekly fix When you hear there’s no drive the next week, you are panic struck and start looking for drivers who want to join you so you don’t miss out. You get up early in the morning and start sharing your thoughts (and don’t really care if anyone else find it interesting @Frederic, with his customary efficiency, had posted a drive report before most of us even got home. Not only that, he is to be congratulated for having printed out the names and cars of every driver, allocated them into convoys, preparing the briefing and sorting out the radios (including the new channels) - @Gaurav @Rahimdad it must be strange only being left to lead the convoys 😂 As visibility in the desert is relatively important (!) and with almost 40 drivers having braved the inclement weather it was a relief once we finally got going to find that first moment when you hit the sand, the excitement is just the same – no matter if it’s Newbie Fewbie or (although I have yet to experience that) Intermediate or above. There really is something quite special about that first moment when you feel the sand under the wheels. @Jeepie kindly gave me the wheel of our trusted little TJ and we rolled out as sweep to @Frederic’s ‘Wrangler’ convoy. Knowing that the Wranglers would never get stuck (hehehehe) we were on the lookout for the mighty Koleos @Denizzalbayrak and the magnificent Murano @Jun Zamora. Truth is, with one or two notable exceptions, these vehicles acquitted themselves well and their drivers must be complemented for, if nothing else, having balls of steel. Talking of @Jeepie , yesterday was her day for winding me up (it seems), so I would like to personally thank her for announcing that the sweep ‘has a little problem’ over the radio as we approached Fossil Rock. Now let me get this straight: There is no embarrassment at all in getting stuck and I had not made it through the churned up loose sand first time, but it was overcome by some swift reversing out of it. Thanks @Javier M for, in any event, valiantly rushing to my assistance despite the fact we were already on the move. Your assistance was much more necessary at the top of Fossil Rock. In the briefing we are always told, remain calm when you get stuck, listen carefully to the instructions, most situations can be driven out of by following the advice of the Seniors. The same needs to be said for tricky situations. The descent from Fossil Rock is exciting and exhilarating, and first time round for sure, launching your car over the side of cliff where you can see absolutely nothing of where you are going is … let’s say, a moment of faith. As someone to whom people have been saying, ‘no, the other left’ his whole life, I get the whole confusion with turn left and right, but it’s moments like launching yourself off Fossil Rock that paying close attention to what’s being said require real attention. Which leads me to @Javier M’s real save of the day. With no kinetic ropes in our tool kit (see point 3 above and guess where we will be this week), the magnificent (but definitely beached and stuck on top of a rock) Murano was recovered by a swift tug from (yes, you guessed it) a Wrangler!! Safely down the hill the rest of the Wrangler crew @Colin Jordan @Rinelle Sanaani @Febin Frederic ended what had been another interesting and challenging drive. Francesco, @Ahmedmustafa90, @balaji0007 thank you for the company and the particularly Francesco for the opportunities to help you out. Hopefully your wife did not notice that her car was missing so early in the morning … As for the other convoys, once again, all we saw was smiling faces and massive grins at the end of the day. And that sort of speaks for itself. Till the next time in the sand …

Not sure how I missed this last week! Congrats @Lucky sAm (about time 😂😂😂)

Congrats @Mahmoud Hamzawy well deserved.

For anyone not aware, tomorrow it the Dubai 70.3 Ironman. If you are anywhere in the Jumeira beach area, you probably already know about this. If not ... The bike ride route is attached - which means anything on and around the route to Al Qudra from the Marina will be closed from early on. While we all have an early start for drives normally, don't get caught out because it looks like roads will start to close from 5.30am ironman_703_dubai_bike.pdf

Hahahahahahahaha .... said the man driving a Jeep.

Congrats @luwaimn on your Fewbieness... see you in the sand.

Ahhh ... but will wifey be driving?

The fact that it was said by Boris Johnson sort of makes it meaningless as most of what he says he makes up on the spur of the moment, but I wonder if as petrol heads we will be a dying breed ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51366123 The UK goverment has brought forward its decision to ban new petrol or diesel cars from 2040 to 2035. That might seem a long way away, but that's just 15 years (the age of my current ride!). After that date ... who knows. All electric? Self driving? Looks like we should all enjoy the roar of a V8 while we still can, they are going to be a real rarity in a few years. Petrol Heads beware - no more gas after 2035

Yes, you were on auto pilot? Great shot.

Intricate suspence filled plot. Detailed character development. Car chases. Off road extravaganza. Yes, it's probably got one of that, but still looks like fun.

It is not often we get to see a master is his/her trade close up, but that was my privilege today. More of that later. Here's a question. Can something be a victim of its own success? Valid, because since the start of this year, numbers at the Carnity newbie drives continue to grow. Today, it was close to 40! Could that dilute the enjoyment of the experience? Would a fleet of vehicles in the desert feel less like a challenge and more like a procession? I am not even going to try to name everyone (you know who you are 😁) as I lost count of the numbers driving. @Srikumar how? Simply how ... did you just not bother going to sleep as you caught up with sorting out and leading the drive. Incredibly, or perhaps not, because of the way this great club works @Gaurav @Frederic and @Rahimdad each led a convoy into virgin dunes, which was unique, challenging and exciting and never felt like we were encroaching on each other [yes, we heard some instruction from other drives on the radio from time to time, but nothjng too intrusive] ... and I say that, having experienced the whole thing from the passenger seat! Sand conditioins remain somewhat benign at the moment: a result of a combination of the recent rains and colder weather. This means that the sand is a great training ground. Sufficiently forgiving to help newbies gain confidence, while offering enough of a challenge should the drive leader determine that the group are ready for something more complex. The drives today were 'boring, in that there were a limited number of refusals and the convoys moved on without difficult recoveries. Probably, the only real incident of the day was the shredded tyre of our trusty Wrangler ... for which apologies to all for denying you the chance to watch the repair because the tyre self destructed 600 metres from the deflation point and was replaced quickly before the briefing. (thanks @Srikumar and @Frederic for getting us going again). Effective though this technique might be in quickly deflating the tyre it seems reinflation is not an option afterwards. But boring is good. That towering dune which you felt you would never cross has been crossed. You've learned that the terrifying vertical slip face on the other side is no longer insurmountable and that slip sliding you did across the lower part of the dune was actually great fun. In most cases that happened without your pride (and joy) being damaged and once again, we all made it home. @tjsingh @Tbone honourable mention as number 2 for the first time. @Jeepie first time as sweep. That might not seem much to many of you, until you think, a few weeks ago all three were newbies. Today, I experienced all that in the presence of an artist. Believe me friends, today was a massive learning experience that is going to benefit my capabilities and capacity to learn this skill, and I never even touched the controls. Watching @Gaurav navigate virgin dunes, to plough a safe and fun route for our convoy reminded me once again how this hobby is not all about adrenalin and power (and believe me, I am in no doubt that were he so to desire, Gaurav could conquer just about anything the sand could offer), but about careful considered control of the vehicle. I learned today that leading a newbie drive is substantially more difficult than any of us could imagine. I witnessed today 4 leaders who were all committed to safely taking us into and then back out of the desert, four leaders for whom the challenge is not feeding their ego by demonstrating that they can, but by guiding all of us to believe that WE can. Perhaps the briefing bores you, perhaps it is too long. Maybe, like being on a plane, you think you heard it all before if this was not your first drive. There is no doubt, however, that the next time you go out on the sand, you can put what you learned today into practice ... time and time again. Testament to how successful this formula is are the higher numbers joining and returning each each week. I know, aloo paratha is compelling, however, if many more join, @Rahimdad may need to consider giving up the day job and starting a restaurant. Have a safe week until we meet together again in the sand.

Even without additional play time it's always good to join the newbie drives. #neverstoplearning

Hi Sri I've signed up for the newbie drive ... see everyone Friday.

Fun. Reminds me of hours spent mud plugging in the UK. It's very different to sand, and the tress are a real hazard to the bodywork - with a $180k car I am not surprised he used spotters to make sure that the car did not get damaged. I am interested to know if anyone has actually ever taken a relatively new G-Wagon off road here in the UAE (I am sure that they do, but in my short experience I never saw one yet!) I learned my off roading in a SJ413 - probably one of the most capable (and under-rated) off road vehicles ever to hit the hills so seeing the Jimny reminded me of the fun I used to have in them. And the CarWow guy - he does a few Car Shows includng one where we has '7 days' to find a client their dream car within a budget.

Friday started with the confusion of @Frederic speeding by us on the A66 as we made our way to the meeting point. As he was supposed to be on the way to Fossil Rock to meet @Rahimdad and @Gaurav there was a moment of doubt that we were going the right way. One thing learned about @Frederic during the rest of our day was that he rarely goes the wrong way geographically or in the excellent leadership of the drive. @Srikumar, you were missed as much as you, potentially missed the chance to stretch your legs ... we trust the Newbies apprecaited your presence as a result. Each drive it becomes clearer and clearer that this game is all about learning, trust, teamwork and of course having fun. Maybe this is set in stone somewhere in the Carnity Lexicon, however, as a relative newcomer to the 4x4 world I hope what is shared in these words is of value to anyone new to the 'sport'. Bide your time, learn your skills, understand as much as you can about the sand, your vehicle and your driving style. For sure, it's not my role to repeat the content of the excellent trip report that has been posted. @Ale Vallecchi has aready shared what was for a number of us one of the true highlights of the day - myself and @Jeepie were giddy with excitement at seeing those majestic Oryx, so what does this Fewbie have to offer? There's no question, conditions will not be as benign as this every week. As a result, almost without exception, when we got into trouble, putting lessons learned in earlier drives meant that refusals were few, and swiftly dealt with. @Xaf drove with a restraint that allowed the rest of us to plough through, apologies @Adam Marston if a few tracks were left a little 'dirty' ahead of you 🙄. Drives like yesterday are the perfect chance for all of us to put what we know into practice, test the limits a little and not worry that we might be holding up more experienced drivers. Driving on the seat of your pants (just noticing what a strange turn of phrase that is!!) is fantastic, and fun and exhilarating and everything that we might actually seek as thrill seekers and adrenalin junkies (let's be honest, if this was not part of the attraction, we would be staying at home) but if you're on the edge of your capabilities all the time you tend to learn bad habits. Our incredible team of senior drivers give up their time and experience to help us an guide us to that place where we can enjoy the 'game' AND get home safely, which is why the sort of drive we enjoyed yesterday is so incredibly important. Don't get me wrong: we crested as many dunes, cross axeled and side sloped just as much as any Fewbie drive would warrant, just a little more controlled and considered than before. We had time to line up the shot, to aim for the pocket (or more accurately to avoid it), choose our shot. Perhaps that's a feature of having just that little bit more experience and the accumulated experience makes it all feel just a little bit easier, perhaps not. We all learn at different speeds, so it's impossible to say. From my perspective we all learned something in the drive but more about the style of driving and how it impacts on the challenge than through the extreme challenges (although I hope we can post the video of seeing @Tbone come down the vertical slope face of the vertical descent to reassure that @Frederic has balls of steel - after all, he did it on virgin sand! We do, indeed, all have to thank @tjsingh for his perfectly balanced pop outs (one on each side) so we could learn exactly how to handle this because it was the most complex recovery ... @Shamil gave us a chance to see Kinetic ropes in action as well toward the end of the drive (but he cannot be criticised for that in any way as he was just getting back to the group having sorted out pop out number 2 and we were on the way out of the dunes! Knowing @Shamil has your back and is sweeing up the drive gives you a lot of confidence you'll never be left behind. Carnity, you did it again. The values of the club are so deeply embedded in how these events are managed. Please let us know how we can pay this forward.

Looks like someone attached a body to a Polaris, and I am not sure that the visibility is great (looks more challenging than from the FJ Cruiser). Would not be surprised if there comes a time when a Carnity drive needs to help out the owner of one of these who thinks that with all that power and the agressive wheels, there are no dunes that cannot be beaten. From my side, if you are going to spend that type of money, just buy a second hand Dakar rally car and make it a bit more comfortable inside.

In short, yes. Unless it's still under warranty. German cars are excellent and well built and then they go wrong and the parts are not only more challenging to find (because there are not a lot of them sitting in the scrap yards if you want second hand) but expensive. My experience is from both here and Europe and it's the same experience. They are usually rock solid cars even out of warranty, but the saying is possibly truer for VW and Mercedes that 'the most expensive ...(insert model) is a cheap one', because once they start to go wrong, it's a money pit. Having said all that, I still love the Touareg

I think I possibly saw someone driving a BMW that had worked out what the strange stick on the side of his steering wheel was for and actually used it when changing lanes - does that apply?

I understood it as It's OK for other people to speed at 140kph, but if you are upset by it, call the Police and tell them. Taligating is totally acceptable if your car will go at 140kph and the other drivers do not move out of the way, if you are upset about them not moving, call the Police and tell them. Driving dangerously, either by tailgating, or apparently allowing yourself to be tailgated gets a fine, if either or both are uset, call the Police and tell them. If your registration number has less than 3 digits, do what ever you like, if I call the Police ... I may find your Emirates ID card revoked. Simple, no?

Touareg for me any time over the Tiguan - because, as @Gaurav mentions, it's the flagship. It also has most of the same underpinning of the Porsche Cayenne without the expensive (usually non-working) suspension. I am also a big fan because it is a very safe car [saved the life of a very good friend of mine]. VW has had it's quality (and emissions!) problems, but the Touareg has remained pretty solid throughout. Service history on them is important.

The clue is in the title SUV - A sports utility vehicle will fall apart simply because like any other 'organism' without a true purpose in life it's simply confused and self destructs in a case of pitiable psychological confusion. Seriously, a life spent navigating the speed humps at Union Coop and ferrying munchkins to school with the odd 'off road' adventure [driving to the lake at Al Qudra possibly], would want me to have my makers design failure ar an earlier rate!

Brette - aweesome photo. Thanks for sharing this.

Congrats @Tbone you deserve this based on what you showed this weekend. Look forward to continuing to look up your tailpipe!