Thomas Varghese

On 11/25/2021 at 7:01 PM, Thomas Varghese said:

Please WL me for 2nd drive

You can disregard me from the waitlist as I found a spot on another drive. 

On 11/27/2021 at 1:26 PM, Thomas Varghese said:

Please WL me for this drive. 2nd drive. Have joined the 1st Dec IM full day drive with you. 

As @Wrangeld has expressed his willingness to add me to his drive you can disregard my WL request. In case you need me to support you in your drive then I can and will join your drive. 

28 minutes ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Hi @Thomas Varghese. I have to leave this up to you, as only you can gauge your energy reserves. Will you plan to camp out at the Lisa meeting point, as many will do? 

No. I will go to Ghayathi, drop my wife at our daughter's house, take some much needed rest at night for the next day drive and start back to the Liwa meeting point by around 6 am and join for the IM drive. Finally wife made the decision. I can have my fun in the desert and she can spend time with our daughter. My daughter's house and the meeting point is only an hour's drive. All depends on if you will exit at Ganthoot as described. 

1 minute ago, varunmehndiratta said:

The next one i am looking for is a small cooler designed for centre storage space in JL...it's a deep space not sure why no one has designed it yet (or not marketed it enough to be easily searched).    If anyone come across such option plz do let me know ..it's a perfect space for a cooler ..and will be cool way of taking the drinks out ..

@varunmehndiratta I recently bought an Ikon brand 25 liter cooler powered by the cigarette lighter. It doesn't make ice but definitely keeps the water and the juices chilled. 159 dirhams from Lulu. 

Prof @Ale Vallecchi couldn't wait for your advice. I joined for the drive. Your description is too tempting to resist joining the adventure. See you at Qudra on 30th.

In 2 minds - whether to RSVP for this drive, complete it and proceed from the exit point all the way to LIWA for the IM drive with @Gaurav or just take it easy and head to LIWA at midnight and conserve energy for the next day drive. Seriously look forward for @Ale Vallecchi's advice on this dilemma. Point 1. I don't want to miss the classes from the Professor. Point 2. I'm not a middle aged man with bundles of free flowing energy. I'm afraid I'm going to lose my sleep tonight over this dilemma. 😥

Congrats @Lorenzo Candelpergher for the promotion to Marshal. Couldn't congratulate you earlier as my subscription ended in July and I renewed back only in Oct. Really liked your offroading journey tale. Just saw this thread now. Always appreciated your drives and have joined whenever I could. Regarding your unfortunate experience of nose hitting of the Y62, I believe I saw it happen as I was the 2nd lead as best as I could remember. Sand was flying everywhere and I was afraid the car front was crumpled up and was not drivable out of the desert. I remember you had taken the hit without battling an eyelid and just kept driving with the help of duct tapes holding on the front bumper. If it was my car I would have had a heart attack on the spot. 

I have always appreciated your lead and choice of path and most importantly the pace. I think I was there when you brought out the new wrangler and had your 1st lead in that car. But the best drives you lead were in the Y62. 

Please WL me for this drive. 2nd drive. Have joined the 1st Dec IM full day drive with you. 

Dear @Wrangeld please WL me for 2nd drive. 

1 hour ago, Wrangeld said:

@Thomas Varghese. I beg to differ, technical is but one of the winning team's strengths. The challenge was not won on the technical dunes alone. 

dear @Wrangeld, What I meant was you are the king of technical dunes. Of course there are other factors like planning, team etc and most important is your experience. I only wanted @Prakash Anoop to participate in your drives and gain more experience in off roading. 

14 minutes ago, Prakash Anoop said:

Thanks you all for the wonderful drive and a special thanks to @Shaaz Sha, @Jeepie, @imranaasghar81 and@Thomas Varghese for such a wonderful drive well organised. Really enjoyed the technical drive, Area 53 is of of my favorite terrains now....

@Prakash Anoop You are gradually gaining experience and I could see the difference today. 3 things you have to take care and you and your jeep will conquer the sands like a maestro. One of the best advice I got from @Carnity club during my 1st drive - from the famous @Frederic is always take care to gain higher ground whenever you climb up from the beginning. You can't change your  climb up angle once you are already committed to the approach angle. You can't turn your wheels into the climb slope once you feel your approach angle was wrong and you are losing ground. Obey the car and don't make it fight gravity. DANGEROUS. Come down and reattempt if needed.  2nd most important advice was from @Foxtrot Oscar the ridge riding queen. Whenever you ride a ridge try to be in the middle of the ridge by having both your front wheels on either side of the ridge. This way you will be in more control of the steering movements of the car. Flatten the crest of the ridge and don't bother about the underbelly of your car as its protected by bash plates. 3rd advice was from Professor @Ale Vallecchi. When driving on soft sands deflate to 11psi which is roughly 1/3 of your normal tire pressure. These 3 advices and implementing them correctly made me a better offroader. I was grumbling inside when @Ale Vallecchi asked me to deflate further down to 11psi and was thinking Ale was about to destroy my tires. After almost an year into off roading I'm thankful he gave me the courage to deflate to that tire pressure. Hope you drive with @Chaitanya D & @Wrangeld to hone your technical dune driving skills more. @Wrangeld is the DCT champion because technical dune driving is his strength. 

@Shaaz Sha & @Jeepie you made a very interesting drive in the morning. Interesting in the sense all the drivers in the convoy responded very well. Area 53 is a very entertaining and learning area. I had a doubt we wouldn't be able to drive much but we did 38.1km in the Badayer area which speaks of the skill level of the drivers. We had our minor share of refusals but all overcome in the fastest possible time as drivers responded well to the instructions relayed over the radio. Not 1 pop out in those soft sands. Everyone in the convoy did well and I look forward to future drives with them. @Shaaz Sha appreciate the 10 minute break you allowed us to relax, socialize, take pictures, have a cup of coffee, bio break. I hope my assistance to all of you was appreciable. I'm thankful you executed the maneuvers exactly as instructed and cleared the refusals. I don't remember any rerouting of the convoy because of anybody not able to make the challenge @Shaaz Sha gave. Feeling so satisfied to see the new comers learning fast. The drive had all the ingredients for a fewbie drive. High dunes, slide sloping, ridge riding, criss crossing, testing your abilities in soft sand. I hope all you have started to realize the potential of the cars you drive and more important your capabilities as a driver. 

Kudos to @Sudhanva Sonawane,  @Salim Akhtar, @Prakash Anoop, @Pierre de Maigret, @Gregory, @Alexander Holodny & @Daniel Yang for challenging the lead shaaz for more adventures.  The lead can only drive if the convoy responds well and today all of you did that. The well done messages over the radio was not simply hollow messages but genuine in a challenging terrain with the experience you have now. You all did well. 

Thanks to @imranaasghar81 for only instructions when it was needed the most. I'm thankful to you buddy for trusting me with the instructions for the fewbies. Hope you enjoyed your role as CF even though your rope couldn't come out of its bag. Todays drivers were good and spared you. 

Driving with @Jeepie after a long time and its always a pleasure seeing her drive that jeep like a morning walk in the park over those dunes. Hope she enjoyed the drive too as I could see her face was happy after the drive. 

@Lorenzo Candelpergher I need to cancel my desert drive with you as an urgent meeting has come up for me tomorrow morning. Kindly excuse me.

Please waitlist me 2nd drive

Please WL me for 2nd drive

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. 

1 hour ago, Looper said:

Coming though E11 or E311 go to this Petrol Station: ADNOC Petrol Station-Al Mearad (686)

Coming through E611+E75 go to this Petrol Station: ADNOC Service Station

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

4 hours ago, Br. San said:

Thank you @Thomas Varghese for the detailed answer, this is very useful. 

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

44 minutes ago, Foxtrot Oscar said:

Many many congratulations to Team Arabian Red Fox I @Wrangeld @M.Seidam , @Bernard Kalaani , @Ruan van den Heever and @Mario Cornejo What an outstanding achievement! 

 I'm only sorry that my car let me down and I wasn't able to participate, here's hoping no such ill fate awaits me for the next Carnity Desert Championship, at least then @Wrangeldwill know he had been in a competition.  💅😜🤣

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

2 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

Testing new waitlist management system, still not working fully.

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. 

1 hour ago, Frederic said:

That is indeed true, but on Fewbie level onwards we tend to give the member some time for him to assess his situation by himself and give him some attempts to self-recover. That is for them the only way to learn self-recovery. Holding hands is fine in Newbie level but once they have entered Fewbie level, they need to become a bit more self-reliant in my opinion. 

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.