JeromeFJ

Last day of the week, for most of us! The attendance list is clearing and I will issue the convoy order by the end of the afternoon. In the meantime, please ensure your car is in condition for the drive. @Ignacio Quindós, you have been added to the drive. Please confirm you are still available and interested.

Dear Desert Drivers, I hope you are looking forward to the coming drive on Saturday morning. My plan is to cover the Southern part of Sweihan area in the direction of Yahar, including the Old Lady Dune and the portion along Al Ain airport, and exit on the E22. This area offers everything that can be expected for an IM drive, it will be us to make the most of it ! We still have 3 drivers in waitlist, so please check your agenda again and remove your RSVP or let me know if you cannot attend, to avoid leaving empty spots on Saturday morning.

Congratulations @Looper and @Davie Chase. One of the best learning experience is ahead of you ! Enjoy the ride !

We request every member that joins this drive to go through the below information and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquettes and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquette's Emergency details for all off-roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE PLAN: Explore the southern part of Sweihan area. DRIVE DETAILS Level: Intermediate and above When: 11 Mar 2023, Saturday Meeting time: 6:30 AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/3AP1mn7ovRJ42KDx9 Approximate finish time: 11:00 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. Mandatory off-road gears: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 5 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 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 BELOW CALENDAR

Good move @Jaro Tuzinsky ! Totally agree with @Gaurav, and I have driven the FJ stock (with a bashplate added) well into the intermediate level, until I was leading drives. Having said that I'm very happy with the addition of the Dobinson MRR. If you decide one day to go this route, I have the rear springs for a 2.5" lift available for a minimum fee. I went finally for the 2" lift. I've kept the stock rims, and changed the tyres to Geolander when the stock ones were worn out. Enjoy the ride !

Thank you all for joining this morning. It was one of these drives where we use our vehicles for what they are designed for: reaching exceptional places, crossing large portions of desert. And driving these vehicles might look easy at first sight, when following an easy track, but passing through this variety of terrain, considering the slopes, the very soft sand, the bushes, the long climbs, the ridges to cross, require definitely some skills. Well done everyone, especially at the back of this long convoy, where the tracks were churned by the previous cars, as we had only a few refusals, and one pull. Thank you @Hisham Masaad for assisting the drivers from the middle of the convoy. Nice dunes with a lot of tree shade, farms spread out on flat areas, an old watch tower, isolated breeding camel mothers with their calf, bigger herds of camels, cows, young calves on a sand slope, sheep, an amazing green sabkha, African savannah, just a sample of what we could discover this morning. and we even found a steep side slope to push our engines ! @Stumpy Paj Nathan, thank you for the 2nd lead, @Joseph Raju, thank you for the seep, both roles perfectly executed, @Hisham Masaad, thanks again for the support, @Sayed Bilal, @Bravoecho, @Bashar Beasha @Frans M @Abdul Basit Khan, @Glenn W @Gary F @Ahmad Nerat, it was nice having you today. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and see you soon. Waiting for your pics in the gallery !

Dear Desert Drivers, Last checks and updates for tomorrow morning. Meeting 6:30 am at https://goo.gl/maps/cV6h7wBMa7DobRVE9 The convoy order will be We will use radio Channel 4 There is rain tonight in the North of the Emirates, but it looks like it will avoid the area of the drive. Probably the only consequence for us will be a cooler weather, but I will keep watching. Enjoy the evening, take as much sleep as you can, and see you tomorrow morning !

Thank you @Mike M., it has been a while indeed. I hope your hand is not too bad. Hopefully we will have soon another opportunity. @Juan R, noted, thank you for informing. Next time hopefully

@Mike M., you are next in line for the wait list. I can add you if you are still interested. Please confirm

Noted @Stan, thank you @Ahmed Wagdy, you are next in line. Are you still available and interested ?

As you can see, we have a long waitlist for the drive on Saturday morning, and unfortunately, I will not be able to accommodate everyone. I will take max 2 cars in addition to the limit (1+10+2). Check your agenda and if you are not sure to attend, please let me know or remove your RSVP, to avoid having empty spot on Saturday morning. So currently @Bashar Beasha @Stumpy Paj @Abdul Basit Khan @Juan R @Joseph Raju @Gary F @Glenn W @Sayed Bilal @Frans M @Ahmad Nerat confirmed attendees. No need to confirm again, just let me know if you cannot make it. @Bravoecho @Stan Waitlist #1 and #2 for a first weekend drive accepted. Please confirm you are still available and interested. Thank you for your understanding

#1 on WL on Monday evening, you have good chances 😉

We request every member that joins this drive to go through the below information and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquettes and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquette's Emergency details for all off-roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 4th March 2023, Saturday Meeting time: 6:30 AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/cV6h7wBMa7DobRVE9 Action Plan: Starting from Al Batayeh exploring the northern part of the Emirates into Ras al Khaimah. Don't expect high climbs or crazy dune bashing. It will be a leisurely exploration of the desert, with some very scenic portions with mountains in the background, and a lot of desert life to observe. We will use tracks from time to time, but all your sand driver skills and awareness will be required to cross some soft untouched dunes. The drive will end in RAK. Approximate finish time: 11:00 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. Recommended off-road gears: Walkie-talkie radio and off-road flag (MANDATORY), plus tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 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 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 CALENDAR

Thank you @Frederic, superb drive indeed !

Dear Desert Drivers, You have been amazing today, following the track at a steady pace, whatever the difficulties, remining concentrated up to the end of this long drive. Together we succeeded to reach Qudra starting from Nahel, straight into the dunes, not backing down from any obstacle. First portion leaving Nahel was super soft construction sand, progressively clearing into medium size dunes, with sharp edges. The first thrill of the day was into a small massif of high dunes where after a long climb we were suddenly like in the air, on a sharp ridge going down, with steep faces on both sides. This was well managed by everyone, Continuing this portion, we reached the E14, and crossed into Dubai, just behind the high dunes of Faqa. Faqa's long range dunes are always a pleasure to run through, and we were not disappointed. We had long stretches on the top of the ridges, one after the other, trying to maintain the balance of the car as long as possible. The wind was blowing sand over the crests, blurring a bit the view of the ridge itself, and maybe participated to the second thrill of the day, when @Krishna R misjudged a step on a ridge, and was close to loose the control of his car. Luckily, more fear than harm, he escaped safely with a self recovery. After this, a beautiful portion of white sands, long rolling dunes, with magnificent views led us to the sabkhas close to Little Sweihan. We had already some technical portions on the way, But Little Sweihan remains something special, with this thigh concentration of small bowls and sharp ridges. Everyone was focused behind me, flowing from one dune to the other. Here also, the clear sand, the light, where making it some times difficult to assess the sand, and the fatigue was starting to set in. Little Sweihan had to claim a car, and it was @Pierre de Maigret who remained crested. After a bit of shoveling, and quick review of the FJ's built-in tools, he was out, an we merged to the long track along the military area. Passing by the Stingray/ River/ Saba Lake, we entered the last technical portion. Small dunes, but very narrow and tight ridges, plus a lot of bushes around, it was maybe the most difficult part of the drive, as we had already 5h of concentration behind the wheel. The group remained focused passing one dune after the other, but the desert had to claim for a last car. @Yaseen87 remained stuck crossing a dune, in a very narrow place. Shoveling would have taken a long time, little space was available around, I could pull him from further up, using 2 ropes tied together. We exited this technical portion, and reached along the cycle paths of Qudra. For a flavor of Qudra, we pushed a final small loop to the high dunes around Moon Lake, passed the lake itself, paid our respect to a lonely oryx, and reached the exit track to Bab al Shams. @Joji varghese big thank you for the second lead, perfectly executed as usual, @Yaseen87 and @Krishna R, congratulations for your first Fewbie Plus, it was a tough introduction to the new level, @Pierre de Maigret, it was a pleasure to have a sister FJ in the convoy, well done going through the obstacles with the unmodified car, @Rajiv Sam, many thanks for watching the back of the convoy, and supporting the recoveries. I've recorded 112 km in 6h, moving time 5h15, stopped time 0h50, average moving speed 21,4 km/h. Considering the large technical portions, it is an excellent performance from all of you, and a testimony to your driving skills.