Looper

@Bjoern elevating the camping experience. We with tents and inflatable mattress look like peasants.

@Ishak, @DTG, @Mohammad Sayawoush Azad, @Sreenath G, @Lalaji, @Kenneth Bollhardt, @Haneef Thayyil and @Cha Good evening everyone. I hope you are all going to be well rested and ready for some action tomorrow morning. Request you to arrive a bit earlier than 6 am starting time so that we can be ready to move by the dawn. We may expect temps to be at 25 degrees when we start and 37 by the time we end. Following is the convoy order: We will be on CH2

Congratulations @Mohammad Sayawoush Azad on your promotion to Fewbie level. See you on both the weekend drives.

@Issam Atra, @Sreenath G & @Haneef Thayyil for a couple of you it is going to be back-to-back drives with me. Tawi Nazwa is a place where inevitably the drives are going to be fast paced due to the terrain. We might go towards 2nd December cafe and check out a few dunes, but we will mostly confine ourselves between the dunes of Camel Rock and Big Red. There are many tall dunes, and we will perhaps check every one of them out. Do also double check your calendar, make good excuses, if necessary, in case you have any commitments that you are trying to ignore and be ready. We will publish the convoy order later on Saturday afternoon.

@Kenneth Bollhardt, @Haneef Thayyil, @Ishak, @Lalaji, & @Sreenath G thank you all for signing up for the drive. I will be posting the convoy order later in the week. Request you not to be a No-Show and instead rest well and arrive before time so that we can start by dawn. In case you think there are going to be any issues withdraw from the drive. The track I am going to try to do this week is the same one I did a few weeks ago with a FB+ drive. There will be some tall dunes at the start and thereafter we will explore some long-range dunes. I intended to keep the drive slightly faster paced and be prepared for the same. Our objective will be to avoid technical patches on the way as much as possible and reach as quickly as possible to Little Sweihan. We will exit at the Innovation Center at or about 9:30. You may expect a slight delay. @Mohammad Sayawoush Azad you are still Newbie and request you to wait till you are promoted to FB to sign up for these drives. There will be an announcement on the forum by @Gaurav when you are promoted, and you will get to know as well as everyone else in the club. Consider joining Newbie Drives in the meanwhile as they are equally fun to drive. There is a Twilight drive on Friday. Further the morning drive at Faya is going to be a lot of fun. Suggest you check those out for this week and let's catch up next week.

@Mohammad Sayawoush Azad noted yours, but as of now promotion has not been confirmed.It should come by soon. If however not confirmed by Saturday, please consider joining a newbie drive.

@Mohammad Sayawoush Azad - this is a Fewbie drive and I see that you are still a Newbie with the club. You may join the following drive as per your convenience:

My advice for the built-in compressor for a 2Door JL would be to put it in a place where it can breathe. Some installers prefer to put it at the rare under the mat, I think it makes it hot in there and reduces the speed at which it can inflate - a slight delay that's all. The reason to put it there for them is to put the connector for hose under the rear bumper. That too is not a place I like because it makes it open to the elements and sometimes difficult with sand seeping in there. My preference would be to put it under the front passenger seat. If you are putting the Compressor at the rear, then try to put it in an open area and there is a new Apex hose real, you can use that as well if you can afford it.

Congratulations @Deepak Eswar, well done 👏

DRIVE PLAN This Sunday, which happens to be a long weekend let's meet at Tawi Nazwa to wrap up. In this terrain we won't find any area that is barred of tracks. But we have a fantastic opportunity to revisit those tracks on a fast-paced drive through those dunes starting at Tawi Nazwa and ending at Big Red. The Drive will be quick in more ways than one. We request every member that joins this drive to go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquettes Emergency details for all off roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 01 October 2023, Sunday Meeting time: 6:00 AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/AqkCdd2BnLTEiVtC7 Approximate finish time: 9:30 AM 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, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. RECOMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR: Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge Compressor (MANDATORY) Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY) Off-road flag (MANDATORY) Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles First-aid kit Fire extinguisher LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Saturday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned - 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

Forgot to share this crowded petrol satation pic…

DRIVE PLAN Let's drive from Faqa this weekend. Our off-road adventure awaits in two exciting parts. The initial segment will take place in Faqa itself, where we will climb some tall dunes and ride some long ones. After we leave Faqa we will then navigate through Sabkha and a patch of technical dunes to reach Little Sweihan. Our primary focus lies on the long range dunes in this drive. Request every member that joins this drive to go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquettes Emergency details for all off roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 30 September 2023, Saturday Meeting time: 6:00 AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8ZrGgBmqMyuEgZT36 Approximate finish time: 10:00 AM 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, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. RECOMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR: Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge (MANDATORY) Compressor (MANDATORY) Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY) Off-road flag (MANDATORY) Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles First-aid kit Fire extinguisher LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned - 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

Prologue: I crave at least two drives a week. This morning when I was driving to the meeting point just before the Last Exit fuel station, I had a thought that I could have slept this morning after a very long previous day. But I must confess that after the drive I felt like it was a worthy end to the week and all the fatigue that I had was lost. I met @Bjoern at the fuel station, and we started together. I saw @Haneef Thayyil overtake me and then @Rk ram and @Deepak Eswar overtake me and @Bjoern. On the way to the meeting point I felt the chill for the first time for the season. It was a cool 27 degrees when we reached the meeting point and I had my windows down and my hand outside, I experienced the wind hitting my face. I posted the same track a couple of weeks ago and 4 of us were driving again today as well. In the morning, just before the start I pondered on how the track was going to be today - easy? difficult? Lots of refusals or none? I threw all those out of the window and started to take a new track. At the briefing I took more time explaining the reasons for refusals and how to tackle them. Drive Report: I have now got a good understanding of the track. We drove mostly on the northern side of the area, which has taller, softer, and difficult to drive dunes. At every dune crossing I was like now we were going to have a refusal, but the convoy drove very well. Everyone behind me was super focused and I felt that the briefing had rubbed on all. After we completed the super technical part, it was time to rest a bit. We reversed back on a southern track from the previous and were a bit faster. This is when @Pacific put on some music and tried to relax, and promptly got stuck. @Bjoern was all ready for a tug offering the choices of pull or winch, meanwhile @Deepak Eswar and @Rk ram dug under the car to recover the fellow doctor. It all paid off when @Pacific was able to self-recover. Then we again drove east toward the larger dunes and did a few flying sidee laps on a few of those dunes. After that we took a break at Crescent Lake, and I must thank @Deepak Eswar for the croissants he offered as breakfast. After the break we moved towards Richie's bar. Just before reaching there, we saw a lone driver stuck in his TJ and gave a helping tug. Last time I was at Richie's bar I remember all the bushes were only a few millimeters tall but now they are tens of centimeters tall. Then we went west towards the exit. At the end to summarize it was a great drive. Good mix of technical and fast paced dunes. For a Sunday, a shorter amount of drive and great fun. Credits: @Mahmoud Taha you were an excellent second lead. I, however, noticed that you used to fall back a little more than you should. @Haneef Thayyil impressed by your driving today. There were parts that I would be scared to bring even a FB+ convoy but you managed all sections quite well - well done 👍. @Pacific thanks for joining the drive. In case we had refusals I knew I could trust you to recover the stuck cars and you kind of did that today by self-recovering yourself very nicely. @Deepak Eswar you did a great job today and hope you enjoyed the drive. @Rk ram You had a flawless drive, and it is always good to see your enthusiasm that you bring to the drives. @Bjoern back-to-back drives for you as well. Thank you very much for the support at the back and helping with both the refusals. See you all in the next installment of Looper's loops.

And @Zed was the lead supervisor. A slightly worried team lead.

Rest of us meanwhile:

Thank you very much @Gaurav for this wonderful start to the winter drives. When I got up at 6 am on Friday morning I somehow did not fantom that the day wouldn't end till this drive ended. While it might seem a long drive for kind of short drive, for me at the end of the day, it felt that the effort was totally worth it. It was a totally new area and those scenes of mighty dunes ahead of us took all the fatigue that I had and was eager for more. I was having so much fun, I could drive for the rest of the day instead of taking the track for the purpose of exploration. Everyone was super enthusiastic, and we had more fun whenever you got stuck (please see chart below 😉 ). All of the crew not only had a chance to bring out their shovels but also learn a thing or two about recoveries. @DP1011 was a fantastic second lead, there is nothing more one could have asked from that role he played. No Abu Dhabi drive is ever complete without @Zed marking his presence. He is a wise man who is always present to help in any situation. @Rajiv Sam and @Joji varghese always ready with the shovels and displayed excellent support whenever needed. @Amir Amiri showed us how to tackle the last "Pajero Bowl" of Razeen (nice moniker by the way @Zed). The silver surfers of @Gok Krish and @Bjoern did confuse us once or twice but it was fun to hear the roar of 392. @Salim Akhtar never fails to amaze with his Pajero and it was great to see @Stumpy Paj and @Naveen Raj in their SWB cars. Looking forward to many more drives in this area in the coming days and preferably full day drives so that all the extra fuel that we carried could be put to effective use as by the time we were exiting I was once again on a full tank.