Wrangeld

Post Drive Report My lasting memory of today's drive will be the comment that the sand is like melting butter. Soft? Despite the chunky tires on my car, a couple of seconds after driving through, the sand had no tracks. Covering a distance from Faqa to Last Exit, we started with some techincal dunes and found, unfortunately, the recent rains had led to a lot of vegetation sprouting in many of the bowls that would have been play areas. so we searched and climbed and drove and searched again. I am always amazed at how the dunes change and shift over time. We forget that they are living, moving, growing and evolving and it's only when you have not been there for some time that you start to see the impact of these changes over time. The play areas marked on my navigation were no longer the same grandiose exciting swooping bowls, the smooth long range dunes undulate with unexpected gulleys and bumps, the bowls still beckon but super straight sides and soft sand start to put them a little out of reach. Nonetheless, we drove and drove and drove. Generally I regard radio silence as a good thing. By that metric, today was a good day. Everyone engrossed in the drive, for some enjoying a more relaxed morning for others focusing on the drive. With so few stops and stucks we just kept moving. Nothing daunted the drivers, nothing dented the enthususiasm, nothing diverted the fun. The new tires - honestly, we are not yet fully familiar. Most people know that I was until recently driving a completely stock vehicle on 18" rims and HT tires. My decision to 'upgrade' was because it got increasingly challenging to push the car with the limitation of this set up. Keep in mind that's not a recommendation to upgrade - I have led close to 100 drives if you include Carnity convoys and Masterclasses with the old set up, become a Marshal and successfully led at all levels. My decision comes AFTER understanding both mine and the car's capabilities to the full. Unquestionably I feel the grip on the sand from the AT tires. That's a big change. Where I am still finding my feet and feeling like a newbie is on approaching and coming off ridges because I am not used to how this new capability feels. Another drive or two and I am sure it will feel as normal as every day and I am already seeing a big difference on the stability and ability in ridge riding. So, if you're at all interested, in knowing about this, I will post more updates as the weeks go by. For the people that want to know, I moved to 17"rims with 285/70/17 AT tires. I've also nothing at all against the 'standard' choice Carnity tire, the Geolandar G015 ... except for the price. My new tires are Rydanz Raptor09 and the price difference per tire was more than AED200 lower. We will see in the longer term if that 'saving' was indeed a saving. Massive thanks to @Tbone for all the support and recoveries (as much as there were), @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, excellent in sweep and @Pacific with the excellent 2nd lead. ANd finally, the end of the drive was quite special. I know we have a club drive next weekend, but to find three convoys all arrive at LE at the same time and see faces I have not seen in a while (and find @Jeepie waiting as well) was the perfect end to the drive. Thanks to all. See you soon in the sand.

Noted

This is brilliant @Niki, fully deserved, and acknowledges what has been said by drive leads the more that you have been supporting drives recently. You are a true asset on any drive, carefully, calmly dealing with anything that comes your way. Cannot wait to see you out in the sand again soon.

From Watteau to @Alex Raptor it's been a journey of commitment and massively infectious fun so far - with much more to come now you're a part of the Advisor group and more of our members will get the chance to experience the support that you provide to everyone on the drives. I am delighted. Truly.

We have a great little convoy for tomorrow morning. We've had 2 dropouts, unfortunately - but that makes the convoy a little shorter and gives the obvious benefits that we could move further and faster as a result. @Pacific @Charbel @Anoop Nair @Adhir Saxena @Tbone @Chris Wing @Archibald Jurdi @Tareck @Christopher Assal @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil Assuming no-one else drops out, this is where we are in the convoy numbering. Radio channel 3. The meeting point has been added to the drive posts. One little warning - depending on how it goes, we hit some quite technical dunes from the get-go. We can either get through them in minutes if you are all ready to go from minute one, or it's a world of pain as you fight your way through. You all already know my preference, but let's see how the mood takes us in the morning! See you soon in the sand.

Tuesday morning and only one drop out so far - which is nice. What to expect on Friday? Anyone who was on the exploration drive with @Ale Vallecchi on Saturday, quite a lot of the same (so I hope you enjoyed that!) We will also hopefully be making our way to some of the larger/higher dunes in the Faqa region. These are great for high level slide sloping. It will be interesting to see if the extremely sharp edged on these dunes have changed in any way in the months since we were last able to enjoy ourselves out here. I'll be searching out some bowls and play areas during the drive that were great fun in the past, but no promises - the wind and time changes a lot of the landscape around this area and what was exceptional a few months ago ... well, who knows. What we can be sure is that the scenery is going to be beautiful and most of us have driven together before so we know what to expect form each other. See you soon in the sand.

Niki @Niki Alain Canivet-Abikhalil @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil Tareck @Tareck Charbel @Charbel Adhir Saxena @Adhir Saxena Christopher Assal @Christopher Assal Pacific @Pacific Chris Wing @Chris Wing Anoop Nair @Anoop Nair Archibald Jurdi @Archibald Jurdi Congratulations to you. You're all signed up and have a secure place in what will be a little bit exploration, a little adventure and a lot of fun ride looking at some of the most beautiful scenery in the area. Hopefully, we are also one of the first convoys back into this area so it's not going to be all churned up. As ususal, if there's a change of plan, let us know. We don't have a waitlist yet, but you never know.

The plan is to explore those parts of Faqa that have been off limits while the border crossing to Abu Dhabi was in place. We will be going into areas that as filled with swooping high dunes and ridges, making our way through soft sand and some light technical dunes. The key part of a drive in this area is that we should be able to cover a lot of ground, criss-cross and ridge ride and keep up a good pace, covering some incredibly beautiful landscapes to boot. Who should join? Drivers looking for a terrain that cries out to be investigated. People that love the chance to test themselves and their vehicles - but not the whole drive. People who love to explore and don't mind a bit of exploration. What to expect? Practice of key skills you'll need on your journey to Intermediate and beyond. Great team work and fun - we like to keep entertained on these drives. A good but not frighteningly fast pace. 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 Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie Plus and above When: 08 Oct 2021, Friday Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Starting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/HbK8P3nwuVrMxSye8 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: 10:00 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 Fewbies 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 below Calendar

Post Drive Report Coming from Dubai to Sweihan always feels like an adventure. Even though driving from home to Fossil Rock or Pink Rock takes just a few minutes less, the drive feels a lot longer: with the promise of the amazing Sweihan dunes at the end. Despite a detour because I forgot where to go for petrol (sorry @Jeepie) we were able to get under way quickly and ... drive into a fog bank with really limited visibility. Undaunted [we decided to treat it like a night drive during the day] we started, very tenatively finding our feet in the sand. The fog cleared quickly (I bet the majority reading this have all forgotten about the fog!) 42km later, our Newbie troup exited,with a slightly unfortunate brake problem taking us away form this incredible playground on time (honestly we woud probably have overstayed our welcome had that not happened!) We had a good drive. Very few significant stucks, some great self recoveries, lovely views and great focus from everyone. Support was impeccable from @Jeepie and @Alex Raptor. Great second lead from @mikaeel shaik. Some specific feedback, possibly a bit limited because I did not really have a chance to focus on every driver at length. Hopefully there will be contributions from others. @mikaeel shaik great 2nd lead. We almost got through a full drive! Really impressed with how you handle the MG. @Mohamed Aashiq Salahudeen our absolute newbie. You did well. Yes, you had some refusals, but you need to treat every one of them as a learning experience. Taking waht you learned today to your next drives will be massively valuable. @Mohammed Yazir Thattarathil first of all, great car ... a great drive all round, expecially considering you had a very full car. Please, get your brakes looked at ASAP. @Mohseen Suliman it's not easy learning how to drive a manual in the desert. Your level of control requires more work than us lazt automatic drivers. Good job today. It's clear you are learning drive by drive. @Walter Palk glad you had a chance to try the tricks and tools on the FJ today. A-track is a great asset in your vehicle - please spend the time to learn more about how it can help you. Another few mintes of patience and more practive, you would have made it out of the stuck without assistance. I put you at the back so you could deal with churned sand and you handled it well. @Ferl Brown real improvements from the drive on which I last saw you. Remember - gravity: don't fight it. You have to get that dialled in to your subconscious. @Johannes Roux second drive out with you in as many weeks! I think the fact that I heard very little about the grey Prado says a lot about how you are developing as a driver. And I hope the bumper can be sorted easily. @Christopher Assal thanks for giving @Nabeel Abdul Rahman a great line to follow and showing immense restraint the whole day. Your experience is invaluable on a drive and the fact we could shift you to sweep, when we needed help is appreciated. @Nabeel Abdul Rahman with a perfect example in front of you, you drive really well (a combination of both of you doing a great job). Thanks to you all for a fun drive and a great energy throughout. See you soon in the sand.

Revised convoy list for tomorrow @mikaeel shaik @Mohamed Aashiq Salahudeen @Johannes Roux @Mohseen Suliman @Alex Raptor @Walter Palk @Ferl Brown @Christopher Assal @Nabeel Abdul Rahman @Jeepie @Mohammed Yazir Thattarathil

If it's a standard AOR I have carry a spare suction cap in my car. Bring cable ties with you. We will find a way to make it work and as an absolute first timer, we can make a few concessions.

Intrepid Sweihan discoverers, Please see below the planned convoy for tomorrow morning. We will use radio channel one. @mikaeel shaik @Mohamed Aashiq Salahudeen @Mohammed Yazir Thattarathil @Mohseen Suliman @Alex Raptor @Walter Palk @Ferl Brown @Christopher Assal @Nabeel Abdul Rahman @Jeepie See you soon in the sand.

I'm not based in AD. Maybe an AD based driver can help? I guess you did not buy the suction cap type.

And then there were 9 (plus three seniors to manage!) A few small points - All drivers who have driven before should have a radio, flag, deflation tool, compressor and shovel. We will not have multiple spares in case you forget. We try to leave on time - if you're not there by the time we are ready to leave, we will be gone. Check out your car before you come - it takes a few minutes to check fluids etc., a few hours if you break down because you did not. Focus - if you're just starting out, better to have as few distractions as possible. Don't bring the whole family if you've never driven before. See you soon in the sand.

Opens up a space for @PaoloMaraziti if you did not yet find a ride.

In the words of another journey, "the pattern is full". Niki @Niki Mohammed Yazir Thattarathil @Mohammed Yazir Thattarathil Walter Palk @Walter Palk Nabeel Abdul Rahman @Nabeel Abdul Rahman Mohamed Aashiq Salahudeen @Mohamed Aashiq Salahudeen Ferl Brown @Ferl Brown mikaeel shaik @mikaeel shaik Mohseen Suliman @Mohseen Suliman Johannes Roux @Johannes Roux Christopher Assal @Christopher Assal Looking forward to seeing all you intrepid Sweihan adventurers on Friday. Please keep in mind, this is a Newbie drive. There is still room on the Fewbie drive if you feel that you might be in any way frustrated driving at newbie level (and have the rank) Not that I want to lose you - just so there's a complete management of expectations. See you soon in the sand.

Please, yes bring a deflator and compressor. If you have a flag, even better.

Congrats @Sunil Mathew been great to watch your development over the months. Enjoy the IM drives.

Congrats @Mehmet Volga - must admit, I thought you were already there, so this came as a surprise to me. Great to know you'll be leading a lot more (uneventful) drives in the future.

Congrats @Christopher Assal Fewbie Plus. It's almost as if that's take a really long time to get there ... looking forward to joining you on many more drives.

Niki @Niki Mohammed Yazir Thattarathil @Mohammed Yazir Thattarathil Walter Palk @Walter Palk Nabeel Abdul Rahman @Nabeel Abdul Rahman Mohamed Aashiq Salahudeen @Mohamed Aashiq Salahudeen Ferl Brown @Ferl Brown mikaeel shaik @mikaeel shaik Muhammed Saeed @Muhammed Saeed Mohseen Suliman @Mohseen Suliman (WL @PaoloMaraziti) this drive is filling up nicely and quite quickly - it's unusual to have 9 people already by Monday morning for the newbie drive in Sweihan. What can you expect? We will approach the Sweihan region with respect and caution and make the most of the wonderful dunes that make up this landscape. I can already start to see how the convoy will be mapped out, and the route as well, so that we have a good fun and very safe time. @mikaeel shaik was with me last time I led a newbie in this Sweihan area and we have a little unfinished business ... You'll be hearing from me all the way up to the drive: however, today and request. If you know you will not be coming on the drive, don't leave it till the last minute to remove your RSVP. There will be people wanting to join who will make other plans if they think their chances of getting into the drive are slim. And that would be a shame if a place becomes available too late for them to change their plans. See you soon in the sand Funny thing is that the bit of the Truck road that is problematic is that bit of 80kph, where there are no signs.

I think that they will be looking out for each other on the Truck Road to avoid speeding fines!

Good morning @Mohamed Aashiq Salahudeen great that you signed up for the drive. I noticed it's your first ever drive with Carnity so please: Do watch the videos and tutorials we have on the site - they will help a lot in getting you ready for the challenge. Make sure that proper tow points are accessible on your vehicle - otherwise, you'll not be able to join the drive. Tell us if you had any experience in the sand before and what led you to sign up ... Otherwise, we are looking forward to seeing you on Friday morning. See you soon in the sand.

It's my one of my greatest pleasures to see this promotion of @Lorenzo Candelpergher a driver who has become a good friend since joining and excelling (as he does in everything in life) as an off roader. For anyone reading these posts in detail, I implore you - look at how this person has demonstrated his capabilities, leadership, humanity and personal development through the vehicle of off roading. He is an example to us all, and I for one am delighted to warmly welcome him to where he belongs in the marshal level of this great club. I only hope that over the months he has learned from me some small degree of what I have learned from him.