Fewbie Drive with @Emmanuel at Faya: What I could see from the Center of the convoy
It was great to see the members RSVPed for the drive arrive well in time at the starting point , which was slightly inside the tarmac. We started our drive right at the foot of tall Faya dune , which was studded with crosstracks probably from yesterdays “dune bashers” who had played quite a lot in the area and hence decided to climb from the side. All drivers made it to the top of Faya and we continued further crossing the dunes and bowls behind Faya.
All was well until there was a twin pop out on one car in a very soft pocket of sand. In fact the sand was so soft , whatever sand we cleared by shovelling kept coming back making it a very tricky situation. Thanks to trip lead @Emmanuel and @Islam Soliman we fixed this twin pop out and once again we started again, alas but for a very short while . The car with pop out had a bent left front fender rubbing against the tire and hence had to be on tarmac for it to be taken safely for a repair.
After returning to continue our drive we continued through the Faya tracks, crossing camel rock and entered the Fossil rock area. All members did their fair bit of much needed play climbing the dunes and coming down. As we were close to finishing time Emmanuel decided to exit the drive and we headed towards ADNOC on E102 (Sharjah-Kalba Road)
@Gregory Perkin did his task as second lead with confidence communicating and following the suggestions from the lead. Thank you!
@Luca Palanca Falsini managed his V6 Fortuner very well, except for one crest probably because still it was too early as we had just started the drive and was getting warmed up.
@Islam Soliman managed his huge V8 GMC very well. Great to see how you are driving better with each drive, and yes a fantastic support for fixing the twin pop out. Thank you!
@andy_macdxb was driving his Pajero well untill his drive was cut short and had to exit out as it was too risky to continue with something hard rubbing against his front tires. Steering is your friend when driving on sand and it is definitely not a good idea when the front tires are not freely moving. Hope you get your car fixed soon, not to forget get your tires cleaned and balanced.
@Rajeevan Vickneswaran drove his Wrangler LWB well, climbing and riding the ridge perfectly. You have a great car which you can safely push as you progress further.
@Ilya Golubinsky did not break a sweat with his Wrangler LWB as well, fantastic driving and always willing to try.
@Heisem was hardly heard on the radio with his FJC which simply shows how well you drove.
@Adam Marston did the job of sweep to perfection communicating well and making sure all the cars were moving in the convoy. Thank you!
We appreciate all members who waited patiently while we fixed the pop out lasting almost close to an hour, effectively reducing the time we could spend riding on sand. But sometimes things are beyond our control and the idea was to have the car moving as soon as we could and exit out safely.
Some Stats from the drive