Mike M.

16 minutes ago, Nathan L said:

Cheers for another great drive, good experience in reseating a tyre, need to get one of those yalla push boards🤣 @GauravSoni

@GauravSoniany place you can recommend for buying similar boards from ? Thanks in advance 

16 hours ago, Benjamin said:

@Mike. I love this idea and think it would be great considering how often I drive with passengers.

Hope to see you soon mate! 

Will work on it and keep you posted @Benjamin!

39 minutes ago, Nathan L said:

@Islam Solimanthanks for a great drive, had a awesome time. @Mike. the best shot I could get with the iPhone of the rhino Launching 

What a shot! Thanks for this @Nathan L! 

Thanks @Islam Solimanfor a great drive! It was a full package and comprehensive from every aspect!

Looking forward to driving with you again. 

@Rizwanm2thanks again for a perfect drive! Really enjoyed it. What a selection of tracks, Impressive!

A strong convoy, great support and a perfect track
 

it was a pure pleasure today. Thanks everyone. 

Hi @Rizwanm2, I placed myself on the waiting list as i have a weekend drive already confirmed for Oct 15. Please include me in the drive if there are places. If there is anything else i need to do please let me know as this is the first time i use the Waiting List Option for a drive. Thanks. Mike 

Congrats @Jonny90 !!! I thought we are back to Absolute Newbie drives.  What happened ?? 
 

Enjoy it partner!

10 hours ago, Murad Hamed said:

Dear all,

First of all thank you all for the support you provided to me today, i felt zero pressure because of that. Truly when the ambulance guys checked my BP it was 120/80  .

I met most of you for the first time today and I already felt like with family who care.

The good news, i have finally managed to get the car out by driving it to outside , yes i drove through the dunes with a smashed /half pajero in the dark night , to be honest it was as tough as the roll-over experience, then i managed to put it on recovery after police has given the report finally.

Thanks again to everyone,

Special thanks to @Benjamin for driving me home at noon, @Brette for staying back in person and over the phone @Gaurav for support over the phone  to make sure all going well

wish you all safe drive and definitely i will see you again on sand soon (not sure what car this time  will be

 

@Murad Hamed that is pure determination right there. Glad to read your post. I hope the insurance journey goes smooth...

@Fabien Monleau @TT_Dubai thanks a lot for today! Fabien next time I’m thinking of recording your times of handling a pop out because you were almost at Formula one level with Pit Stop execution precision. Thanks again!

@Brettealmost everyone can hoist a sail in calm waters. It takes real leadership to sail in stormy weather. With 5 pop outs and the unfortunate event at the end, you made everyone feel that you were not even breaking a sweat. For someone who is “relatively new” to this sport, it makes a difference and I am sure the same applies for everyone else in the convoy. 
@Murad Hamed so sorry to see what happened to you today but most important is you came out without a scratch which is what REALLY matters. You have nerves of steel man to handle it the way you did. I hope to see you again on the sand soon! 

Hi @Nathan L, welcome to a family-like community. I am sure you have felt the warm welcome from the start and this will will continue throughout your journey in @Carnity. As a proud Pajero owner, rest assured that it is an unstoppable car. I am no expert driver (Yet) but I have been enjoying the journey to date. One piece of advice I can give you is it’s always 20% car and 80% skills, regardless of what car you drive. Make sure you pick the brains of every single lead in every drive, listen, watch and enjoy your journey as you grow week after week. 
Welcome on board! 

Congrats neighbor! @Haitham Khattab

35 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

Thanks @Mike. for coming up with such suggestions and wonderful ideas to diversify and grow.

Every year wadi and mountain access in UAE is getting smaller and smaller with most of the area being fenced, army access, border control, privately commercialized, etc.

Over 95% of the area that we use to venture into in the olden days now is under some sort of restriction.

Nevertheless, it's good to have keen members like you who can help and support exploration drives to find those hidden gems, whenever possible.

Thanks @Gaurav, count me in, anytime! 

I'll work on it in parallel as well from a personal point of view to find places.

Some of the things I have in mind for diversification and growth is have a structure model for "Exploration/Expedition" drives. Requires detailing based on number of drives, planning and involved activities but it's something like: 

1- Explorer

2- Adventurer

3- Pathfinder 

4- Trail Blazer

Some of the activities that can be done in addition to the drive itself is family and group-oriented activities. Some examples:

1- Create an equivalent of an egg hunt to help members sharpen their navigation skills while groups would enjoy looking for the hidden "eggs" with their cars as a family and in groups. 

2- Create themes for drives where everyone gets involved during camping / picnics etc. Mexican Themes, Christmas etc...limitless options 

I am sure you get the gist of it, basically it is combining the off-roading passion with a community building, family-oriented approach which no other group offers in the region, not sure for the rest of the world. 

If I want to push the envelope a bit, it could be much grander things in times like this when there are multiple days off which also can help in marketing such as Expedition Drive to Oman or the Pyramids and back (This is wayyy too early) but you get it, I am sure.

These can be potentially used both digitally (social media) and physically (car stickers for example) for completed major expeditions for participants as marketing.

All in all, the idea is to mix off-roading passion with the core of Carnity, which is the community building. 

Let's see what can be done when the weather gets cooler. 

Thanks

Mike 

1 hour ago, Frederic said:

Very good topic. We have done 5-10 Full Day Drives in the last years, which can be considered light overlanding drives and where we can bring family along. We did coast to coast, sand to mountain, etc.. and these are indeed a good alternative to the shorter "bashing" drives.

For me personally, real overlanding is more fun in Oman, but that would require sorting visas, and setting up multiple smaller convoys (you don't want to be on the highway covering long distances with more than 5-6 cars).  In Oman you can cover the wadis, and camp in different places.

When the season cools down you can definitely expect to see some of those activities emerging. 

 

Thanks @Frederic, as always. I look forward to them but I was also thinking on having something more predictable instead of adhoc. Let’s say if we start with one drive per month, let’s call them “Expedition Drives” instead of full fledge overlanding, where we get to discover and explore. I am sure there are places of interest in the northern emirates, no ? Combine that with some camping and some family activities then that is something that many will opt in with their families. Oman is definitely on the list but I am sure many would be ok with UAE expeditions as well. Even I don’t mind leading some drives once I get the hang of things. Will be doing it either way for the kids .

I hear you loud and clear, I am sure the club has its set of priorities and objectives. Just sharing my 2 cents as I am sure there are many like-minded people in @Carnity and many more outside where such a thing can be appealing to them and their families. 

Hi @Carnity family, 

It has been an overwhelming and pleasurable experience to date with everything that the the club has to offer. No question about that. The high level of organization, structure and communication has been predominantly evident throughout the journey. While the majority of the experience has been mainly around "Sand Duning" [don't like the word bashing  ], I was wondering if the club is willing to consider conducting Overlanding drives. I ask this assuming maybe everyone is busy preparing for the new season and now would be a good time to throw in this idea. 

@Gaurav, thank you for constantly accommodating my new ideas/suggestions, unfortunately this is part of who I am and what I do for a living [Always rocking the boat :)]

Here is some food for thought, when the weather gets cooler of course: 

1- Start small, maybe 1-2 drives per month, I am sure there are certain leaders who have a thing for Overlanding. 

2- The drives would be naturally longer with more family and friends oriented activities as part of the overlanding experience, while bringing Carnity club members closer 

3-  If the number of subscribers increase and the concept gets traction, then the number of drives would increase per month

4- This would act as a new attraction to increase the number of new subscribers, as I am certain there is a significant amount of people looking for such a thing. In turn, this would naturally generate a new revenue stream for the club as I don't think there are many similar clubs offering this kind of drives

5- As we mature and grow within these kinds of drives, we can get creative in the types of family-oriented activities that can be done in such drives. 

What are your thought ladies and gents? 

Thanks 

Mike 

Congrats @Haitham Khattab! Enjoy the new level

2 hours ago, Warren Flay said:

Well what an interesting drive! A good mix of grades present on a Fewbie cruise. We had enough experience to deal with nearly everything... so nearly everything we had! Stucks, refusals, pop outs, car-sicky bail out and a mechanical failure. Thanks to @Vanessa8580for solid leadership that saw us escape the perilous sea of sand intact and in good cheer. Thanks also to @topgear for sweeping and especially @Waqas Parvezwho was busier than a one armed paper hanger helping at all four corners. Nice to meet all of the rest of you, some, for the first time and some for a long time it seems and I look forward to more of Vanessa's challenging 'Fewbie WTF?' drives in the future  

@Warren Flay it was a pleasure driving behind you today.
Thanks @Vanessa8580 for a comprehensive experience! Being my second fewbie drive, I am assuming there are not so many new things to be seen after today’s drive I guess  

@Waqas Parvez, hat’s off to you, you were a one-man army today! 💪🏻

13 hours ago, Sunny84 said:

Truly overwhelming for my first virgin drive at the Fewbie Level and what an experience it was, all thanks to you @JeromeFJ. The drive was in a familiar place which I have done couple of times and yet the track was negotiating and technical on a whole new level the new faces and their expertise gave me lot of confidence in tackling with new challenges. The convoy list on paper looked the longest I have done till date and yet I feel it was compact and credits to our 2nd lead @Haitham Khattab CF @Rob S& @Waqas Parvez with their beautiful machines did a fantastic job to rescue and support in quick time 👌 with @Richard Franks at the sweep.

@Mike. always pleasure to drive with you and love the "White Rhino" customised flag. BTW "White Rhino" is Mike's Pajero. 

@Suresh K hope you got the tyre fixed. @TT_Dubai the pictures in the gallery are superb, @takeshi sobue @Dinesh Kumar A @Gerrit Bus all made this experience a memorable one. 

Eid Mubarak to all and happy holidays.

See you'll soon on the sands!

Thank You.

 

 

 

Thanks @Sunny84! Always a pleasure driving with you Pajero partner. Unfortunate to see you exit early today but I will see you on the sand real soon! 
Thanks for sharing the White Rhino colours. Waiting to see how and when you dub yours 💪🏻

12 hours ago, JeromeFJ said:

It was a very nice drive this morning. I've started at a relaxed pace, just enjoying the pleasant weather through the open window, finding a smooth way for the long convoy through the middle size dunes, trying to avoid the double sided slip faces dunes shaped by the wind, and progressively reaching Pink Rock.  The faces were almost empty, perfect conditions for the first climbs of the day. 

The excellent level of the group allowed to increase the pace, and take more challenging lines on the long plateau between Pink Rock and Big Red. The clean air made the view on the dunes around very crisp. By the time we reached Big Red, all drivers were fully awake, and concentrated on the driving lane. In the continuity of a first climb, we tackled the back face of Big Red itself, and bowl after bowl, we reached the ridge just below the summit, which is a performance at FB level, with a long convoy, congrats to all !

After a small break, we spent the last hour climbing up and down, releasing our energy, and the power of our cars ! Excellent performance from all, especially for the new FB @Mike. @Sunny84 and our new joiner @Gregory Powell! The regular FBs @Suresh K @takeshi sobue @Dinesh Kumar A @TT_Dubai were having a very good control of theirs cars keeping the lines as needed. Big thank you for @Richard Franks as Sweep, @Gerrit Bus for the video extracts to come (no pressure ;)). And special thanks for my supports today, @Haitham Khattab, excellent in the role of 2nd Lead, and great contribution from @Rob S and @Waqas Parvez, perfect in their roles of Center Forward, helping fellow drivers when required, and maintaining the lines despite the length of the convoy.

Thank you all for joining the drive this morning, enjoy the rest of the weekend !

Thanks @JeromeFJfor a great first fewbie experience. If I can summarize the drive in a few words I would say” High Performance mixed with Finesse”. It was an enjoyable and fluid flow of a drive. Thanks again for taking the time to share the tips and tricks as much as possible!

On 7/2/2022 at 2:26 PM, Gaurav said:

Hi @Mike. it's a good suggestion, but mostly off-road never goes as per plan and that's the challenge we all love it.

From a technical standpoint, 4 hour's drive time means:

• 30 min briefing and deflation
• 3 hour drive time.
• 30 min debrief and inflation.

Now in that 3 hour drive time, moving time averages to 1.5 - 2 hours as the rest of the time required for sorting stucks and refusal, as you know we never leave stuck drivers behind and the whole convoy waits.

Now trimming that 1.5 - 2 hours drive time won't be fair for the people who wait to get out for the whole week.

As Sri mentioned to make sure all cars are happy and safe we only restrict driving in peak summer heat based on different timings for various months.

Thanks for taking the time to break it down @Gaurav. Valid points and fair comments. It is what it is I guess. 

Congrats @Sunny84. There goes the neighbourhood!

Just kidding, you know that.

Enjoy the drives buddy! 

Hi @Carnity family. Due to the summer heat and all what it brings with it, is there a possibility to reduce the drive durations to 2.5-3 hours? 
i am opting out of summer drives as I don’t want to keep thinking about overheating issues nor the stickiness that comes with the extra heat.

Thought of throwing this idea as food for thought because I would be willing to keep driving during summer between let’s say 5 am - 7:30 or 8 am for the coming period. 

The main idea is to keep driving under favorable conditions during summer rather than not driving at all. 
@Gaurav@Brette@Frederic@Srikumar@Hisham Masaad@Vanessa8580@Islam Soliman @M.Seidam(Sorry I couldn’t add all leads but just a sample I know to get the discussion going if the option is there) and all leads, what do you think ladies and gents ?

One thing I can think of in case promotions and ranks are points of debate and standing in the way of implementing this then I would suggest that each 2 x 2.5 hour drives would count as 1 normal drive.
The main objective and intention out of this is really to keep driving and enjoy the sport under favorable conditions.

@Sunny84Spa was not for me man. The rhino is pampering itself with some facials and massages.

Hope the drive was good! Have a good one and see u next time 

Hi @Brette, the car needs to extend one more night in the spa and won’t be ready by tomorrow. As such, I have to unfortunately drop from tomorrow’s drive.  

Congrats @munkybizness! Wishing you all the best and looking forward for many more drives together!

Congrats @Jad Moussalli, well deserved!!

Congratulation @Jaro Tuzinsky!!! All the best buddy!