Thomas Varghese

Thanks to all who showed up on time for the most wonderful drive on a very challenging terrain. It was a surprise and pleasure to meet @Tbone again. Always a treat to watch him wroom among the sands. I had my 1st pop out after maybe 6 months which was fixed in no time with good support from @Ale Vallecchi, @Shaaz Sha & @Tbone. @Shaaz Sha along with the Professor @Ale Vallecchi charted a very interesting and challenging route. Soft sands, high dunes, crisscrossing, side slopes, pockets, bowls, what not was there that was not in this drive. Even though overall kilometers was less it didn't matter as it was very good learning. I wish the Marshal's in @Carnity use this area as Newbie training ground plus to assess the skill levels of Fewbie's, Fewbie +, Intermediates. It has all the challenges an offroader wishes for. I don't know if @Shaaz Sha's car is a Herbie but seems like it acts as one. Always a treat to watch that Xterra climbing high dunes with ease. All the drivers which participated @Adhir Saxena, @Santoso Marjuki, @Sunil Mathew, @Looper, @Zed must have left the exit with much satisfaction. For some it was new learning, for some it was brushing up their skills. Till we meet again for another drive in the sands - Good night.

I'm already at ADNOC 754 😀. Having lunch and filled up petrol. 20 min from here to the meeting point

You are welcome @Br. San. Hope you enjoy the time @Carnity. Its the most safest club to practice offroading. Once you start your drives you will understand this. Please adhere to the instructions given by the Marshal at the start of the drive. You can always ask the trip lead to explain again if you didn't understand something in his briefing. Till now I haven't come upon a marshal in @Carnity club who gets upset by any questions raised by any of the driver. They are more than happy to teach you the theory and will make sure you will do it practically and master it as well. Read the grading structure of the club for your promotions. Apply for it when you feel you are ready for the next level, not when you think the promotions are due because you completed the mandatory number of drives. If possible try to ask the trip lead how did you do during the drive after the drive is finished. This way you will make yourself a better offroader. Forgot to mention something which is always repeated in the briefing of every drive. "DON"T FIGHT GRAVITY". If you feel your car has started to fishtail and is swaying at the rear immediately ease the throttle and come down the slope. Never try to hold the steering wheel against the direction the car wants to go and never increase power when your car says he can't stay on course anymore. This is the most important lesson I have learned from the Marshals. Criss crossing, slide sloping, ridge riding, self recovery, the marshals will brief you before they make you attempt those maneuvers and will demonstrate how its done by doing the same in their cars.

@Hisham Masaad the new comers are not familiar in how to join for a drive. Not their fault. It was the same with me too in the beginning. They will learn soon

My car also let me down @Foxtrot Oscar. I wish we can compete for the next DCT.

Its a good beginning. I hope the IT manager will sort out the hiccups soon. 1 suggestion. It doesn't specify whether its your 1st drive or 2nd.

Little confused seeing @Gaurav's grinning face in the waitlist tab. Sure he is waitlisted to join @Chaitanya D's drive?

@Br. San sorry you got confused in the procedure for adding yourself in the drives. @Lorenzo Candelpergher & @Gaurav has explained the procedure in simple language. I can see that you have had only 1 drive with @Carnity and is not very familiar with the procedures in adding yourself for the drive. Every Sunday morning @Gaurav will post a list of drives in the whatsapp group which are planned for that week. This is to give you time to decide on which drive or drives you will choose before the RSVP opens. The RSVP opens exactly at 7pm on Sunday. Just before the RSVP opens @Gaurav will post the drives again in the whatsapp group with the link to the drive description and the RSVP calendar for that particular drive. You can add yourself to the drive by clicking on the going tab. There are 2 tabs. 1 is the Going tab which is for the drivers like us who wish to join the drive. 2nd is the Manage tab which is reserved for the lead and the support team. Under no circumstances we are not to click the Manage tab as its reserved. By mistake you may have hit the manage tab and that is what Lorenzo has referred to. As the RSVP got full Mr. Lorenzo has no option but to waitlist you and add you if anybody drops out which happens most of the time due to various reasons. It can be a family emergency, a work related emergency or a mechanical failure of the car or simply the driver could have some friends dropping in unexpectedly. Can be any X, Y, Z reason and drop outs happen. For @Lorenzo Candelpergher to add you to the drive he should be aware that you have an interest in participating for the drive. You express your interest by expressing your intention by dropping in a message on the drive thread. eg. @Br. San Please WL for this drive - 1st drive or 2nd drive. Now what is 1st drive and what is 2nd drive? As per club rules a driver can RSVP for 1 drive when the calendar opens on Sunday 7 pm. Same time if he finds another drive which is interesting at another time can waitlist on that drive thread by expressing his wish through a message on that thread. The 2nd drive becomes the 2nd drive of the weekend. It has to be clearly mentioned. In case the RSVP gets full before you clicked for your 1st drive you can immediately message on the drive thread to WL you for that drive. Mention that its your 1st drive in your message in the drive thread. This way the Marshal knows you have no other drives for that weekend and will give you preference to be added over the driver who has WL for his 2nd drive. In case you have any inconvenience in joining a drive due to any reason and have already RSVP'd then drop a message in the drive thread and immediately click the leave button so that other drivers who have WL gets a chance. I hope now the procedure is clear for you. Please note that @Carnity is a very professionally run club and doesn't favor any driver over another in these matters. @Carnity teaches you well to drive your 4X4 in the desert in the most safest way without causing any mechanical damage to the car. If at all any mechanical issue occurs its purely because you entered the drive without checking your car properly prior to the drive. In case any such issue occurs you can count on the trip lead and the support team to assist you to recover the car to the tarmac. They are not to leave you stranded in the most harshest environments to fend for yourself. As a driver which has done 80 drives in this club I can vouch for this. See you soon wrooming in the desert and hope we drive together 1 day.

Excited to be part of the exploration. Long time didn't drive with @Ale Vallecchi. Hopefully can learn some recovery basics from the Professor.

I only interfered when I found that they were digging themselves in which I feel should be avoided. Everybody including me in initial days think the refusal can be overcome with raw power which I found out is aggravating the situation. Other times I was silent. I personally prefer the blip blip, left right, forward reverse technique taught to me by the DCT Champ @Wrangeld in a drive than using raw power which is not getting you anywhere but making the car more dug down. I am indebted to Richard and @Chaitanya D for having the patience to spent so much time for those lessons.

@Looper you mentioned about sand getting into every nook and corner of the Jeep. Why didn't you mention the difficulties in having a hair full of dust and sand? Not only the hair infact it will be all over your body. It will be tedious task cleaning your ears. I had a 1956 Willys Jeep before and I loved the feel of driving without a top. Promptly removed it and same day realized the mistake. Open air driving are for motorbikes not for 4 wheelers. The air pushing from the back end to fill in the air displaced by the 4 wheeler moving forward carrying with it the sand and dust kicked up by your 4 tires are a big nuisance. Believe me the thrill of driving an open 4 wheeler will be over in the 1st 10km of driving itself. By the time you reach home you won't be able to recognize yourself with all the dust covering you.

@Faisal Alhashimi you are at the right place to learn and enjoy off roading in the most safest way.

Sorry for the unnecessary comments to support from me as I'm still not on the support team. Every time somebody gets a refusal which they promptly convert into a stuck brought back smiles and memories of my newbie, fewbie days. When someone thinks they know their car and can come out of any refusals with raw power on the throttle and don't inform the support team or the lead reminds me of my early days with @Carnity. As you are aware @Mehmet Volga this aggravates the situation they are in and I can't help but tell them stop whatever you are doing and wait for instructions from experts in the convoy. It was not simple praise to you that the terrain was good training ground - infact it was. Tell me which situation you didn't cover in that drive? Side slopes both on hard and slip faces, crisscrossing and ridge riding, avoiding pockets, driving on super soft sand you covered everything. Refusals and stucks are part of any drive irrespective of the driver's rank. Part of the learning curve.

Congrats @Josh T.. Well done.

Thanks for the clarification @Lorenzo Candelpergher. I have WL 1st for my 2nd drive in the drive thread. I wish to maintain that position.

@Lorenzo Candelpergher as this is a repost of an earlier drive which was cancelled you can add me after considering all the participants of the cancelled drive and a spot becomes available after everyone from that drive gets a spot.

Please WL me. 2nd drive

Its there in the drive thread when it starts. You have to watch it all to have a better understanding on desert driving and for club rules & etiquettes.

Foldable shovel is not very useful. Use Gaia app if you want to have a GPS. To be frank you don't need it for the time being. Marshal's are anyways leading the drive and they know where they are going. They are not going to leave you inside the desert.

It was me who requested. I was in the drive and an unfortunate incident occurred a day before- My starter motor refused to work. I left the drive because I was afraid I couldn't get the car ready in time for the drive. Then I found a good Auto electrician shop in Sharjah who fixed my starter in an hour. Wanted to join back as I still had time to reach the meeting point for the drive. I really wished to join the drive as @Hisham Masaad is an old friend who joined almost the same time as I joined the club. Wanted to drive under his lead with @Frederic supporting him. Anyways it was destined to be some other time. No regrets. Hope your emergency at home didn't disturb you much @Nihal17.

Welcome @Antony Abraham. U need to get a radio, a good flag, deflator, air compressor, a decent sized shovel to start off as a newbie. All these are available in Dragon Mart. Please watch all the videos prior to joining a drive with carnity to make you understand the club and its activities. See you soon in the sands.