Lorenzo Candelpergher

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, One of the things I like the most when offroading is that sense of freedom that the vastity of the spaces and the absence of other people around give me. This was definitely the feeling in this drive. We started quite timely at 6:10am, just before the sunrise. We swiftly climbed up the first group of dunes for the day, in the area called Sweihan Tilal, stretching east/west from E16, parallel to E20, all the way towards Al Faya. The view of the place was really majestic, especially in the magic half hour just after the sunrise, calling for a stop for a magnificent shot: @marks took an amazing drone shot from the same location. I hope he'll publish it for everyone to watch. As we moved forward, the convoy, all new to this area and mostly new in Sweihan entirely, gained confidence with the high dunes and the soft sand. Interestingly enough, all dunes had this unique characteristic of being covered, on the windward side, with tons of small bushes except the top 5-10 meters from the crest, which made the call to climbing and side-sloping on the high side even more compelling. As the terrain was beautiful, we indulged quite a lot along convoluted lines, slowly moving west, while enjoying endless, fantastic, panoramic views. Here you can see in my rear mirror @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil contemplating the landscape: After approx 2h, we completed the 1st stint of the day and exited Tilal area by crossing the sabkha on the south side. From there the aim was to reach the long alignment of tall and complex dunes on the other side, but before that we had to fix a pop-out that I had while coming down from a small dune on hard ground. We then entered the dunes again, which meant a complete, shift of terrrain: from large dunes and high speed swoops we transitioned into tall dunes with very complex geometry, requesting quite some effort to navigate through. This was meant to be the 2nd stint of the day. After a couple of km into this area we had the first serious stuck of the day, with @Rawad, betrayed by a moment of hesitation while criss-crossing in soft sand and finding himself in need for a quick winching out. It was soon after this recovery that @Shaaz Sha first signalled some overheating issues and then realized he had a damaged upper arm on his front left suspension. With such a critical failure, we tried to back-track to the sabkha on the north east side, but after a couple of attempts we gave up as the terrain was not approachable by the damaged XTerra, so it was decided to head south west where an easy crossing to the sabkha on the other side of the dunes would have been possible. This, however, couldn't be achieved as @Shaaz Sha's upper arm collapsed completely, rendering his car un drivable nor untowable: Given the situation, it was decided to leave the car on site and plan for a recovery later on, with @Shaaz Sha joining me as passenger while we continued our drive to Al Faya. As we were running short of time, we increased the pace a bit, which made our 3rd stint to Al Faya quite an interesting fast paced and exciting one, while going through brighter and brighter dunes, not so easy to read as the sun was high in the sky. The landscape, however, was amazing and the driving at high speed was pure pleasure (for all except @Shaaz Sha, I guess): It was on one of these high speed slideslopes that @Ranjan Das lost control of his Rubicon, finding himself with a double pop-out on both right side wheels. Thanks to a great team effort the problem was soon fixed and we where back in business, but with very little time left. Before toning down the drive and heading straight out, we made a quick and last drive through some rock formations, one more memory to be taken away for the day: By 10:43 we were our on the tarmac on E20. We overall covered 88.7km at an average moving speed of 26.5km/h, with an idle time of 1h 8' vs a moving time of 3h 23'. Everyone did extremely well, with minimal refusals and reattempts and no significant stucks. Congratulations to all: @Mario Cornejo, an excellent 2nd lead, especially after a 4 weeks pause from off-roading, @Rawadand @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, on their 2nd IM drive, first on these tall Abu Dhabi dunes, @JeromeFJ and @Chinthaka Ruwan, now fully comfortable with Sweihan's big dunes, @Arman, @Ranjan Dasand @Russ, all cruising well in the churned up sand at the back. Thanks to @Mario Cornejo, @marks and @Shaaz Sha for their great support through the drive. Good to know that @Shaaz Shawas able to go back to his car with the help of some friends, including @Thomas Varghese, and have his machanic fix the upper arm on site so that the car could be driven out on the same evening. Great team work, especially considering it was done at night time. Kudos to all and see you soon in the next drive!

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, The area of Al Bataeh is always surprisingly beautiful and surprisingly technical everytime a new bunch of drivers accepts the challenge to drive through it with me (as I'm the only @Carnity Lead venturing in this area). We had a relatively short convoy and a beautiful clear day, with no fog at all, which started with a magic sunrise: We moved on the sand at 6:15am, a bit later than planned due to a couple of last minute arrivals. Just 5 minutes into the drive we had our 1st stop as @Josh T.'s front left tire had suddenly deflated. After a quick reinflation, we moved again only to acknowledge that the tire was probably punctured or leaking and not sustaining the pressure beyond just a few of mins. It was then decided, as sad as it may be, to drive back to the entry point and let @Josh T. reinflate again and drive on tarmac to the nearest tire shop. After greeting our friend, we headed back into the dunes to start the journey of the day, across complex mid-sized dunes with unpredictable shapes and lots, lots of large bushes. The drive, as always in Al Bataeh, immediately became really technical, requesting all drivers to focus 100% on the driving to control their cars in tight maneuvering spaces, steep climbs, steeper descents, complex passages and tricky slide slopings, all of this while dodging bushes almost everywhere. Despite all the challenges, the convoy did amazingly well, with almost no refusal and, for a long portion of the drive, not a single stuck, despite the difficult terrain and the soft sand. We smoothly moved north, cruising around way better than I had expected. This gave us the chance to reach quite close to Khorfakkan Road on the north, cross the relatively flat central area near the farms and head south again for a while after climbing on top of the high dunes overlooking the sabkha on the east side. The views from there were stunning, and photos don't really give the idea of how majestic the place is: After a couple of daring climbs, @Mohammed Mansoor, who otherwise did exceptionally well on this drive, his 1st Fewbie one, got crested in a difficult spot which required some winching. A few minutes earlier @Daniel Yang had brilliantly self-recovered from another tricky refusal, in soft and churned-up sand. His overall drive was remarkable at the back, given the difficult conditions. Other than these two episodes, there were just a few refusals here and they were all brilliantly managed. Our 2nd lead @Gregory had quite a lot of work today as I was often forced to ask him to redirect or hold as finding the way wasn't always so obvious. Always responsive and cautious, I couldn't have asked for better. At the center of the convoy @Bernard Kalaaniand @munkybizness did both well. A lot of workout today, steering around so much in tight spaces, but both brilliant. Last but not least, @Sunil Mathew was an excellent Sweep at the back. Getting through the churned up sand might have not been that easy, but I don't recall a single refusal today. Lots of timely radio communications, on the other hand, very exhaustive and therefore appreciated. Around 9am we were doing very very well and I was about to shift more to the west side, to then start our final stint across the complex dunes that lead to Al Khorfakkan Road in the north side. Everything was going as per plans: too good to be true.. All of a sudden, coming down from an innocuous descent, I couldn't avoid smashing into a small, hidden and tricky pocket.. Quite a strong impact, I must say, but no apparent damage to the car, however, as we moved further on, I started to hear a strange noise from the front suspensions. Having no senior support in the drive and having to face quite a challenging last 30 mins stint, I opted to cut the drive a little shorter and avoid any risk. By 9.30am we were out on the tarmac on Al Bataeh Road. We overall drove 3h 16', stopping for 40' in total, at an average moving speed of 17.6km/h, not bad given the terrain. Eventually, I took my car to Jeep and found out that one engine support was broken, so exiting earlier was the right thing to do.. Congrats everyone for the brilliant drive. Look forward to seeing you soon on my next Fewbie drive!

Congratulations @Mohammed Mansoor on your fast promotion. Well done with your Y62 and very pleased to have led your 1st FB drive this morning

Dear Desert Wanderers, Last minute convoy order for tomorrow: 1. Lorenzo Candelpergher 2. Sunil Mathew @Sunil Mathew 3. Mohammed Mansoor @Mohammed Mansoor 4. Josh T. @Josh T. 6 Bernard Kalaani @Bernard Kalaani 7. Munkybizness @munkybizness 8 Daniel Yang @Daniel Yang 9. Gregory @Gregory 10. Jodha singh shekhawat @jodha singh shekhawat The meeting point as per a drive post, ie the roundabout at the intersection of Al Bataeh Road with E102 Sharjah-Kalba Road - https://goo.gl/maps/jqJgB18J8xkuQg9t9 We will be using channel 4 Pls make sure you are ready (deflated, flagged) by 6:00am sharp, so try to reach at least by 5:45am.

Dear Desert Wanderers, this RSVP is now closed. Please find below the convoy order for our drive: @Mario Cornejo, @Rawad, @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, @JeromeFJ, @Chinthaka Ruwan, @Arman, @Ranjan Das, @Russ, @Shaaz Sha, this drive is going to be thrilling and exciting, going across a terrain that will be new to almost all of the drivers, beautiful and majestic, but very challenging from a technical point of view, with tricky soft sand everywhere. The drive will be very demanding, both mentally for the drivers and mechanically for the cars. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, especially when we will reach elevated positions on steep slopes, so make sure you come well rested and hydrated and that and you don’t have any reason for being distracted. Also, please consider carefully if you wish to bring passengers along with you. As far as your vehicle is concerned, please make sure that you have checked its perfect conditions (tow points, tires, fluids levels) as we are supposed to cover over 80km tomorrow. We will be using Carnity Channel 4 (446.08125Mhz). Our meeting point is confirmed as per drive post: https://goo.gl/maps/Mf11NJccmLJrgbEv5 . For those who are new to Sweihan, once you exit the E16, you will have to cross a gate, that automatically opens when you approach it. Please make sure you come with a FULL TANK. The nearest petrol station coming from Dubai / Abu Dhabi is here: https://goo.gl/maps/N9dL153xVhABBqJt6 The nearest petrol station coming from Al Ain is here: https://goo.gl/maps/BUrnVktkLWvaVDbs7 See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later than 6:00am (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:45am.

Dear @Rawad, it is true that there might be less friction between tire beads and rims when a new tire is mounted, however if you have already changed your tires a couple days before the drive and driven a reasonable distance (say 100km at least) on the new tires, the extra risk is minimal or none st all and I would be more than happy to see you join the drive. If, on the opposite, it is a last minute change and you get you new tires tomorrow evening for Friday morning, I'd advise you otherwise, ie not to come. Having said so, if you decide to come, you should make sure you come driving as usual, ie not scared by the thought you may have a popout, as changing your driving style and adding extra hesitation in the terrain we plan to drive trhough, can only increase your chances to actually get pop-outs or get stuck somewhere. On the other hand, you should rest reassured that we will fix as many pop-outs as you may have, as this is part of the game, and you really shouldn't worry about it: your Marshal for Friday is known as the still undisputed "king of pop-outs", meaning I had way more pop-outs myself thananyone else and way more than those I helped fixing for others, so I still have to even my score. 🤣🤣🤣

Dear @varunmehndiratta, I'll consider you waitlisted for the time being.

Drive Brief Every Carnity off-roader has driven multiple times around Mahafiz and Fossil Rock and is quite familiar with the area and the landscape. What almost no one knows is that just a few more kilometers north from that area is a wonderful stretch of terrain, quite technical and with a beautiful landscape, so little known that there are practically no tracks at all in this area even in the busiest off-roading days. A hidden gem this Fewbie Drive is meant to unveil. We will start at 6:00am from the roundabout between Al Bataeh Road and E102 Sharjah - Kalba Road near Ibn Rashid village and head north-east, making our way through an area of fairly complex dunes and soft sand, that will require a good technical effort by our Fewbie convoy. We will roam around the place for quite a while, enjoying the long ranging and yet everything but easy dunes in the area and the beautiful views from an elevated position towards the sabkha on the north east side and the further dunes behind. We will progressively make our way towards Khorfakkan Road, completing this exciting drive in a completely new area. General Infos 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 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 and above (All Levels) When: 16 Oct 2021, Saturday Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Roundabout at the intersection of Al Bataeh Road with E102 Sharjah-Kalba Road - https://goo.gl/maps/jqJgB18J8xkuQg9t9 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, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tire inflation. Approximate finish time: 10:00 AM End Point: Khorfakkan Road (Sharjah) Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. 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 THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Drive Brief As the 3rd chapter of the "Bowling in Sweihan" Series of drives, this Intermediate drive offers the opportunity to further explore the high dunes and the big bowls of the stretch of desert that extends from E16 in Sweihan all the way to E75 in Al Faya. Covering a distance of over 80km, we will start from E16 Al Taf Road heading West, with the sun rising behind us, gently riding the first dunes to get acquainted with the landscape. After the initial warm up we will start tackling the big dunes that make Sweihan such a renown off-roading place, enjoying all the climbs, the crests, the ridges and - above all - the large bowls it offers, moving through a series of high and complex dunes in an exciting sequence of climbs and rides around some of the biggest and deepest bowls to be seen around. As we will move further to the west side, the terrain will slowly change it characteristics, with the sand turning from red to light beige and with dunes of different sizes and conformation, typical of the area of Al Faya, who some define as "Al Qudra on steroids".. General Infos 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 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: Intermediate and above (All Levels) When: 15 Oct 2021, Friday Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/Mf11NJccmLJrgbEv5 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, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tire inflation. Approximate finish time: 10:00 AM End Point: E75 Al Faya Road (Abu Dhabi) Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. 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 THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, The day started at Mahafiz in a beautiful dawn with the skyline of Fossil Rock over the horizon: All convoy members made it to the meeting point quite early, so we would have been ready to move quite soon hadn't it been for the missing flag mount on @Manish Kashyap's Raptor, which required a bit of engineering effort to figure out a way to fix the flag with tie straps and gorilla tape, as I really didn't like the idea of sending Manish back at his very first drive just because of a missing flag. As soon as this artwork was completed with the help @GauravSoni we were ready to go trhough our briefing and eventually hit the sand by 6:30am. The first bit of the drive was quiet and easy, across the bushy and innocuous dunes of Mahafiz, until we reached the first play area were we could practice a few rounds of sidesloping: As we proceeded further east, we approached several other bowls where we indulged in more half-moon climbs, until I got crested in a moment of distraction trying to figure out the best way forward. On the last of these play areas @Ferl Brown's XTerra remained stuck on a slope and had to be winched down. Probably due to the high inclination and an excessive quantity of fluid in the circuit, the coolant of his engine had been overflowing and therefore spilling out, so once on the flat ground, we took a break to check that there were no leakages and that there was enough coolant to proceed the drive. After a good 30' break, we were able to move again and we quickly made our way to the glorious Long Dune. There we practiced as many half moon climbs as we could possibly think of, as can be seen from our track: As we moved further east, we eventually reached the pylon track on the west side of Fossil Rock and the new fence around the Natural Reserve there. Once on the south side of the fenced area, we had a chance to give a last glance to Fossil Rock, with the company of some very scenic camels: We then headed south, aiming at the evocative Camel Rock, where we stopped for a good convoy photograph: We then moved again, driving by the Sphynx and then entering Faya area: As we moved south, the sand got more and more soft and churned up, with tons of tracks from other convoys, which made our life way more difficult than expected. The convoy, however, was excellent, so we kept marching on with very few refusals and stucks along the way. Faya is a fantastic place, with higher and higher dunes that our Newbie convoy successfully climbed all the way to the south side, where @Prakash Anoop got crested at the edge of a nasty bowl, which required some shoveling and some maneuvering to get out of.. Eventually we made it to the famous Faya climb, which was as badly full of tracks and bumpy as I had never seen it, to the extent that none of us could make it to the top, so after a couple of attempts, we eventually made our way out to the tarmac on the Mahafiz - Kalba Road by 10:15. The convoy was excellent today: @Joji varghese was an excellent second lead, always careful and responsive to my instructions. Kudos! @Manish Kashyap was undoubtedly the star of the day: on his 1st Newbie Drive after the Absolute Newbie one, he found himself on the heights of Faya and made it through them like a pro in his blue Raptor. Well done for your 1st drive! Just remember to follow convoy discipline and stand still when the convoy halts for a stuck/refusal and to never overtake the car in front. @Waqar Sarwar is gaining confidence at every drive and did very well today in a challenging terrain like Faya with his Wrangler. Still some temptations to fight gravity here and there, but definitely a grest performance today. @Prakash AnoopAnoop had his 5 minutes of celebrity in that final bowl, when reversing out, but all is well what ends well. For the rest, some refusals today were totally part of the game, and they only demonstrate that you were pushing yourself to the best of your current capabilities. Keep up the good work! @Ferl Brown certainly won't need the gym today after performing an endless left & right steering recovery attempt when stuck on a side slope. Luckily your coolant issues were just an overflow, and I'm glad you could complete the drive, as otherwise you would have missed the best part of it! @Mohammed Mansoor is also showing great progress at every drive. Less fishtailing, less fighting gravity, better distancing. Keep it up, as you are doing great. @kiranshinde is coming to terms with his Y62. As with Mohammed, controlling fishtailing will be your most important achievement, as it is also the biggest challenge with your back heavy vehicle. For the rest, the car has tons of power, you just have to learn being less shy on the throttle! Well done today, it wasn't an easy one. @eldose baby pushed his Lexus where probably 95% of these luxury cars never get, and did it very well and effectively, with few hesitations only on churned up sand. @Raman_Dbx, quiet but sure at the back, came through everything that was thrown at him today, while still finding the time to enjoy the newly discovered landscape. @Rsjiv Samuel was an excellent Sweep at the back, always responsive on the radio, and never hesitant along the way, even when having to face incredibly churned up sand. Great job! We overall drove for 41.3km at an average moving speed of 15.3km/h, stopped for 1h 6' out of 3h 49' of total time spent from tarmac to tarmac. Great distance and pace for a Newbie Drive. Last but not least, a great thank you to @GauravSoni, on his 100th drive with @Carnity in just 365 days. Invaluable support as Center Forward, all over the place helping everyone, giving clear and effective instructions and meaningful insights during the drive. Fantastic! See you soon again in the sand!

Congratulations @Niki, I look forward to shoveling toghether in one of our next drives...🤣🤣

Hi @Manish Kashyap, I just realized there might have been a cut&paste problem.. I'll fix it, however your position in the convoy will not change.

Dear Desert Wanderers, this RSVP is now closed. Please find below the convoy order for our drive: @Joji varghese, @Manish Kashyap, @Waqar Sarwar, @Prakash Anoop, @Rsjiv Samuel, @Ferl Brown, @Mohammed Mansoor, @kiranshinde, @eldose baby, @Raman_Dbx, @GauravSoni, this drive is going to be thrilling and exciting, but also demanding from a technical point of view. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, so make sure you come well rested and hydrated and that and you don’t have any reason for being distracted. Also, please consider carefully if you wish to bring passengers along with you. We will be using Carnity Channel 1 (446.00625Mhz). The meeting point is confirmed at Mahafiz Tree Shade - https://goo.gl/maps/Tj9WXKFDYB43KpWZ9 See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 6:00am (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:40am.

I had 275/60R20 and switched to 285/70R18, which have almost the same external diameter. I chose Kumho Road Venture AT51 A/T tyres and progressively got used to deflating down to 11-12 psi. Very happy about their performance: very few further pop-outs and much better traction.

Drive Brief This drive is an evergreen classic at @Carnity. Moving from Mahafiz Tree Shade at 6.00m, we will start in the twilight and then head east straight into the raising sun, which will soon unveil itself from behind the skyline of Fossil Rock. We will enter the desert from a bushy area, riding on large and fat ridges as we make our way to the rock. If not too crowded, we will indulge for some play time at some nice bowls and especially at the Long Dune, a fantastic, super-long dune offering great opportunities to practice side sloping We will then head to Fossil Rock, which we will admire while heading south-east, moving across a fascinating area populated by dunes with evocative names such as Camel Rock and The Sphinx, with the aim to reach Faya area, where very large and mighty dunes will be waiting for us to leave our tire marks on the sand and undeletable memories in our minds. General Infos 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 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: Newbie and above (All Levels) When: 08 Oct 2021, Friday Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Mahafiz Tree Shade - https://goo.gl/maps/Tj9WXKFDYB43KpWZ9 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, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tire inflation. Approximate finish time: 10:00 AM End Point: Mahafiz - Al Faya Road Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. 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 THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Congratulations @Kailas!

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, I have seldom seen in almost 15 years in Dubai fog as thick as the one we had today. As per plans the convoy was ready to move by 6am but the visibility was so limited that we had nowhere to go.. We took advantage of the waiting for a more extended briefing and for a bit of chit-chatting, until, by 6:20am we decided to make our move and to start crossing the sabkha in the hope that the fog would slowly fade away with the rising sun. Well, it wasn't the case.. After reaching the far end of the sabkha we had no other option than to stop again waiting for better conditions: As we stood out of our cars we were all literally wet because of the humidity. At around 7:15am the fog was starting to reduce a bit, so it was decided we'd give it a try and see whether we could go ahead. The first stuck happened almost immediately, with @Felix Obst's Wrangler crested and requiring a tug, as did, a couple of minutes later another car at the back, not sure who it was. After these initial stucks, the convoy picked up the rythm and got accostumed to driving in the fog, as we started playing around the first group of long range dunes, where we had plenty of chances to practice sidesloping and learn how to control fishtailing and how to avoid fighting gravity when momentum is lost. We spent a good half hour playing around the area, passing by multiple rock formations. I must say I was a bit disappointed: this is usually a very scenic route with all those rocks in view, but the fog really made them look much less spectacular. Our spaghetti-styled route, in any case, took full advantage of the area, as you can see from the map below: We then continued our route further north-east, with progressively increasing visibility, until the sun started shining for real, allowing us to use the terrain to our full advantage. The drive was smooth and we had very few refusals and, as far as I can remember, no stucks for quite a while. Everyone was doing great and having fun. We drove through three different areas with large dune formations of increasing height and complexity. At the end of the 1st of the three areas @Algin Varghese's Pajero started having transmission overheating issues, so we had to stop and let it cool down a bit. As discussed in many forums in @Carnity website, transmission overheating is a very common issue with Pajero, as is the fragility of the rear plastic bumper, prone to easy damaging due to scooping if not protected with a skid plate, as Algin experienced today. As we moved further north, after a couple more stops due to transmission overheating, this time affecting also @Alexanderrr, we eventually made it to the area of "Lisaili Mighty Dunes", our intended destination for the day. In the attempt to make it easier for @Algin Varghese to control his overheating issues, the convoy order was changed moving his silver Patrol in position no. 2, as 2nd lead behind me, so that he could drive though less churned upstand and along cleaner lines. These majestic dunes offer amazing opportunities for long climbs and swooping rides on often completely virgin sand, all combined with great views which well justify the adjective "mighty" to describe them. We spent some good time roaming around, occasionally reaching good levels of technical complexity for a Newbie Drive, as witnessed by @Algin Varghese, who had to be tugged once after getting stuck in a nasty pocket and then performed a brilliant self recovery from a tricky crest. We certainly didn't miss a sense of adventure and challenge among those impressive dunes.. We even had a thrilling passage descending one by one straight into the bottom of a bowl packed with nearby rocks, but everyone did extremely well in all circumstances. As we were preparing to move to the sabkha on the west side, the very last climb of the day turned a simple refusal by @Algin Varghese into a tricky recovery from a patch of very soft sand requiring a two staged winching. Once the recovery was over it was 10:20am, therefore time to make our exit. Having lost a good hour due to the fog, we couldn't reach as far north as planned, so it was decided to head west along a dirt track to the nearest tarmac road near Lisaili Fort. The whole convoy was excellent today: @Fabien Monleau, you were a perfect 2nd lead, careful and responsive, always acknowledging my directions on the radio and helping me deal with a couple of much needed small reroutings. Bravo! @Algin Varghese, you had a hard time today, pushing yourself and your Pajero to the limits. What's good to know is those limits are only temporary: with practice, hesitation on long climbs and sideslopes will fade away, using power a bit more will become more natural and a small skid plate will give you peace of mind when scooping with the back bumper. Also, you'll learn not to rush into action when you are stuck and to take your time to carefully process the instructions received via radio. Overall, very very well done today: you didn't spare yourself for a single second! @Waqar.S, coming fresh out of @Brette's Absolute Newbie yesterday, you did very well in 4th position. As with Algin, with experience you'll learn to better control your fishtailing on long slideslopes and to avail to its full potential your capable Wrangler. Congratulations! @Felix Obst admittedly found himself often overspeeding on long slideslopes, which took him very close to the car ahead. Maybe leaving some more space will help you overcome this issue. As with most of today's drivers, you'll have to work on your fishtailing refining countersterring and throttle usage. For the rest, great drive! @Serafino, you surfed today's dunes super smoothly. I know you were hoping for more action and more dunes, but this was a Newbie Drive and pushing it more than we did would have meant asking too much. I had limited visibility of the rear part of the convoy, so I'll let @Jeepieadd more comments about what she could see from the back abour @jeetu sharma, @Mohammed Mansoor, @Alexanderrr and @Sanjay Malik I however noticed a lot of fishtailing (certainly made more difficult to control due to the churned up sand) and convoy distancing not always sufficient, especially during long slideslopes. Apart from that everyone did very well, congrats! @Adhir Saxena, second last in today's convoy, you quietly but effectively led your Pajero through all challenges. Very well done: I know it was a piece of cake for you, as you are way more experienced than this, but the churned sand at the back didn't make it any easier. Overall we spent 4h 15' on the sand, of which 2h 38' moving and and 1h 38' stopped. Considering we held for almost 50' due to the fog, this means we really lost minimal time throughout the drive thereof. We covered 50.8km, with an average moving speed of 19.3km. Congratulations to everyone for a brilliant drive and special thanks to @Jeepie for her precious support. Knowing I had you at the back made me feel way more relaxed. See you again in the sand!

Dear @Adhir Saxena, It was a mistake from my side. See you tomorrow. I'll review the convoy order.

Dear @Algin Varghese, yes, the flag is mandatory, for your own and your fellow drivers' safety. I have, however, a spare flag with a suction mount that I can lend you for the day, so don't worry about it for tomorrow.

Dear Desert Wanderers, this RSVP is now closed. Please find below the convoy order for our drive: @Sanjay Malik, @Algin Varghese, @Waqar.S, @Felix Obst, @Serafino, @jeetu sharma, @Mohammed Mansoor, @Alexanderrr, @Fabien Monleau, @Jeepie, this drive is going to be thrilling and exciting, but quite demanding as we will cover a long distance in a very diversified terrain ranging from long range dunes to smaller technical ones to high ones. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, so make sure you come well rested and hydrated and that and you don’t have any reason for being distracted. Also, please consider carefully if you wish to bring passengers along with you, as they may feel car-sick, especially if placed on the back seats. We will be using Carnity Channel 4 (446.08125Mhz) Our meeting point is confirmed Al Qudra Pylon Track - https://goo.gl/maps/VurDujZbhkNZjGah7 See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 6:00am (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:45am so you have enough time for your preparations.

Dear Desert Wanderers, Congratulations for successfully completing your Absolute Newbie Drive with @Carnity. A whole world of off-roading opportunities is now opening in front of you! Before I forget, as promised, here are a couple of interesting links about off-road gear and compressors: Essential off-roading gear: https://carnity.com/advice/offroad/essential-off-road-gear-r131 Off-roading flags: https://carnity.com/forums/topic/15560-offroad-flag-guidelines Compressors: https://carnity.com/forums/topic/16760-the-ultimate-compressor-review-2021 Looking forward to seeing you in the next drives!

Dear @Waqar.S, you will be added to thr RSVP. Please read carefully the drive instructions above and any further communication I will be posting here during the day today. Make sure you have all the basic gear required at Newbie level. If you have doubts have a look here: In particular, make sure you have pressure gauge, tire deflator, flag and radio, with the Carnity Channels duly preset. See you tomorrow!