JeromeFJ

Dear Friends, What an amazing day it was !! These full day drives are really what we are preparing for with our "normal" drives during the year. One of these days where all what we learned and practiced become used "for real". Going deep inside the desert far from any road, power line, farm or any other sign of civilisation. Navigating through these untouched dunes, experiencing this feeling of immensity, knowing that we have to find our way by ourselves, crossing the obstacles one after the other. We also experienced that we were progressing as a team, knowing that we could support each other, and that together we had the capability cross this environment, find solutions to solve any difficult or blocking situation. And we were rewarded, of course reaching the famous yellow truck, which was the target of the day, but also these thrilling bowls of oversized dimensions, these steep slip faces, where our cars were barely leaving a scar at the surface of the sand, these amazing sceneries, discovering from the top of a ridge some dark rocky formations or a dense palm tree oasis. Thank you for your pictures in the gallery where you have captured some of these moments. @Haitham Khattab, big thank you for the quality of your assistance as second lead, avoiding to the situations where I was stuck, and pulling me out when needed. And in addition, beautiful driving and communicative enthusiasm from your copilot! @Sunil Mathew, excellent driving, being careful at the beginning in the bowls, and gaining confidence through the drive. I'm sure you totally enjoyed the last ones. @Rob S thank you for your precious support, always ready with your shovel, and also skillfully rerouting the second part of the convoy in the tricky technical patches. @Tom B maneuvering your heavy car in the super soft sand, and pushing it high in the bowls was a challenge, you went through with a great skill. @Gok Krish you could enjoy the first part, and I can't imagine how frustrating it was to have to leave the convoy in the middle. Despite this you didn't loose your happy mood and big smile. And you managed your way out in a very reasonable manner. Hopefully you will have another opportunity to complete the drive very soon. @Santoso Marjuki, your blue jeep was passing through any obstacle and climbing any face. Keep an eye on your fishtailing for a better and safer control. @Imteeaz beautiful drive, always in control and accurate in your lines @Mario Cornejo big thank you for the reliable sweep. and watching the white Patrol high in the big faces was a bliss ! It was a pleasure also to meet the other convoys of @Chaitanya D with @M.Seidam and @Asif Hussain, and to know that they could also reach the Yellow Truck and exit without major issue. @Asif Hussain, it was a pleasure to meet you, and big thank you for the assistance for exiting @Gok Krish. Looking forward to the next full day adventure !

Dear Friends Enjoy the evening, especially if you are camping. Make sure you take enough rest for tomorrow. The proposed convoy order is below, we can adjust before the drive if needed. We will decide the radio channel before the drive. Drive safely to the meeting point, and see you tomorrow morning !

Dear Desert Divers, @Haitham Khattab @Sunil Mathew @Rob S @Tom B @Gok Krish @Santoso Marjuki @Imteeaz @Mario Cornejo Last checks for tomorrow's drive. Please make sure that your vehicle is in the best conditions, that you have a spare wheel , and the tools to change it. Take all your recovery gears (rope, soft shackles, D shackles, jack, ...) Make sur you have min 100l fuel total with you. If you need jerrycan(s) ensure they are properly strapped inside or outside the car, and take a funnel with you. Welcome to the two last joiners @Imteeaz and @Santoso Marjuki, please make sure you read totally all the posts above, and comply with the recommendations. Any question you can ask here or to my WhatsApp +971 5 8862 0942. If you drive in the morning from Dubai, please make sure you allow for sufficient time to refill close to the meeting point (it might be busy) and you have a bit of rest before going into the 8h drive. I will share later today the convoy orders, stay tuned !

Sorry to hear that @Beide Worku despite all the planning and preparation efforts... I'm sure you will have another opportunity. Thanks for infoming

Thank you for joining the Support Team @ASAD. !

@DP1011 , Deepak wrangler, thank you for joining the Support Team !

Congratulations, @Mike M., more drives to enjoy with the White Rhino !

Thank you for joining the Support Team @Fabien Monleau!

Congratulations @Patrick van der Loo, more drives to enjoy !

Hi @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler, we will miss you, but I'm sure you will enjoy the next day. Thanks for informing.

Dear Desert Drivers, @Haitham Khattab @Sunil Mathew @Rob S @Tom B @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler @Gok Krish @Beide Worku @Chris Wing @Mario Cornejo Thank you for signing up for the full day Yellow Truck drive. A few but very important pointers below. Please read them carefully. 1. Please ensure that you are there at the meeting point on 7:30 AM SHARP. As there is a long distance to drive if you leave in the morning, make sure to leave ahead of time and keep at least 30mins spare time for refueling or a tea break. 2. Get lots and lots of rest the previous day. The more the better as this terrain will not only challenge your vehicle but your mind as well. We would need your complete focus, and fatigue due to less rest is the last thing that is needed on such a terrain. For those who prefer camping the previous night, you can do so at the starting point as its a nice spaced out area. Bring some firewood incase if you wish to have a bonfire to keep you warm. Cleaning up after the bonfire is mandatory. 3. Ensure that your 4x4 is well serviced recently and all the lubes and fluids are topped up. A vehicle breakdown in this terrain will result in not reaching our beloved Yellow Truck so please do the needful to get your 4x4 in the best possible condition. 4. You will be needing 100 litre total fuel amount before starting the drive. For example, if your existing fuel tank is 80L, then you need to bring a 20l jerrycan with you, safely strapped inside the vehicle (or outside if you have a suitable bracket or holder). Make sure your main tank is full. There is an ADNOC 15mins away on the way to the meeting point. Location of last Fuel Station: https://goo.gl/maps/Ug1sGJE1PP6eJBJNA 5. Spare tyre should be in good working condition. If not been used recently, ensure that you take it out and check the condition properly. Also ensure that you have the wrench that can be used to remove your tyre (if needed). In the past we have seen that people upgrade their tyres but still keep the the original wrench which is of no use to remove the upgraded tyre. So please ensure that your car has the right tool to remove the tyres (if needed). 6. Air compressor, proper shovel, flag, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, radio. Recovery gears as soft shackles, D shackles, Tug/kinetic ropes, straps, jack if you have etc... 7. Fully charged radio (tuned to all Carnity Frequencies) with spare battery / radio. If you have a car charger for your radio, please bring it along. 8. Car charger / battery pack for your mobile. 9. Plenty of water, approx 5 litre per person. 10. Bring along your breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc in easy to eat packing. We shall be having breaks in between the drive. 11. Dry food, energy bar, cookies, nuts, crisp to munch while driving 12. Bring garbage bags along to carry your trash. Littering in the desert is strictly prohibited. Please make sure all the off-road gears, jerrycan, and any other item in the car is strapped properly. Please take this event seriously and understand that this terrain, due to its remoteness and size of the dunes will challenge everyone on this drive. If you decide to bring passengers, please make sure they have spent a full day already in a vehicle in the desert and are used to it. There are hardly any nearby exit tracks and rerouting might take hours, so once we are in this terrain the aim is to complete the entire drive and visit the Yellow Truck.

Well managed @M.Seidam, taking the time to analyze the situation, and putting in place what is required to limit the stress on the vehicles, and the risks for everyone ! I was stuck in similar situation in my last drive, and managed to get out thanks to the capabilities of the car But I realize afterwards that it would have been difficult to recover. I will keep in mind your step by step approach for the next one !

Nice pics in the gallery, thank you @Joji varghese @Waqas Parvez @Vaibhav ! @ASAD., thank you for sharing the feedback on beadgrips !

Dear Friends, It was a pleasure to drive with you this morning. Faqa proved one more time to be a beautiful area, with lots of possibilities. I think we made the most of it, with the technical part at the beginning, and these amazing long ridges parallel to each others. The beauty of an homogeneous IM convoy as we had today, is that as a lead I can just do whatever I like, go check that dune, go look at this bowl, let's see how long we can take the ridge .... and the convoy follows Ok in a few occasions, I could not climb a slip face, or I was trapped in a soft pocket, we had also a few stucks and refusals, but we had a great experience. and when I finally got crested, it was a sign that it was time to exit. Excellent driving from all of you, especially from the middle of the convoy to the back, were the sharp ridges where rounded, but the sand much churned. Many thanks @Joji varghese for an excellent 2nd lead, you were concentrated with excellent reactions when needed. Thank you @Vaibhav for watching the back of the convoy as sweep, with nice comms as usual, @Rob S @Waqas Parvez and @Rajiv Sam for the support, and all of you for helping the recoveries when needed. @ASAD., I hope your tire will be repaired or replaced without too much hassle and @Vaibhav your electronics back in order. Enjoy the weekend, and see you in Liwa YT for who are participating !

@Senthil Kumar, honestly, I doubt that an important necessity to travel showed up suddenly between 6pm and now 9:30 pm. This is really not fair for the 2 members in WL who where excluded from the drive.

Dear All @Joji varghese @Rajiv Sam @Chris Wing @Sunil Mathew @Rob S @ASAD. @Waqas Parvez @Senthil Kumar @Gok Krish @Vaibhav Final call for tomorrow Meeting at 6:30 am at https://goo.gl/maps/WbWFK5iwurzey1dF8 The convoy order will be We will use Radio Channel 4 Enjoy the evening, take as much sleep as you can, and see you in the morning !

Thank you for informing. See you for a next drive hopefully

Dear Desert drivers, We had a few drop outs, so I can include @Chris Wing and @Senthil Kumar who were on WL for a 1st drive. See below preliminary convoy order. I will confirm again by the end of the afternoon.

Dear Desert Drivers, @Gok Krish @MMansoor @Vaibhav @ASAD. @Imran Kashif @Sunil Mathew @Rob S @Joji varghese @Rajiv Sam @Waqas Parvez WL @JamesThorn @Chris Wing @Senthil Kumar @Arda Yagcioglu @Beide Worku Thank you for signing-up for the drive on Saturday. I'm sure most of you have already driven this area many times, so you know what to expect. Be ready for a bit of technical terrain, and exciting long ridge riding ! Just check you agenda and remove your attendance in case you have a busy schedule. As we have 5 WL currently, I will not accept them all, and it would not be fair for them to miss the drive for a last minute drop out. Thank you for them. I will issue the convoy list and order by tomorrow the end of the afternoon.