Hunting High and Low
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kareem.alameldin
- Advance
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 1:01 pm
- Location: Dubai
As mentioned by everyone else in the 10+ convoy, we thought this will be a relaxing drive, well we thought wrong!
i still can't forget our faces when [mention]Yoghybear[/mention] said "the scope is to have fun, not to put you in trouble, if i want a roll over i can get it in 5 minutes", i'm sure he meant to be nice and not scare us, but that made me think it wasn't my wisest decisions switching cars before a Yoghybear drive! but too late!
the drive started and immediately i felt how good my decision was to invest in an FJ, as i always said to everyone who asked me if the FJ felt better, the FJ is way more controllable, the weight distribution makes the car much easier to control, it's light so the power comes much faster when you need it, the Prado felt heavier, it didn't lack power but it wasn't as responsive, it needed lots of corrections to stay in track, the tail was really alive, felt like i'm dragging a trailer or something behind, BUT DON'T GET ME WRONG! I am not giving excuses! it's definitely the driver not the car, i just wanted to give an idea to anyone who's wondering if they should invest in an offroader that's suitable for the soft sand we drive in, i have no doubt in my mind now that it was the right decision.
first half an hour was more to adjust to the car, then the real fun started, [mention]zico[/mention] suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and i thought "from a 5+ drive to a drive with the Chief Marshall and Abu Tareq!!"...i was glad i didn't miss it.
before the usual [mention]Kals[/mention] pop out, we stood watching a climb that everyone ahead of us were doing, it was a climb then a sharp turn then going down a bit of a ditch then a bit of a climb again, basically you had to have enough momentum to climb then suddenly do a very sharp turn which transfers all the weight to the front turning wheel, and the sand shower that everyone ahead of us got from that wheel made me think i better be gentle or i'll have a popout, right after crossing it we heard Kals on the radio calling that he had a popout, i know he has a V8 pressing on his front tires and no weight in the back and all of that, but seeing how other drivers in other cars crossing an obstacle gives you a really good chance of adjusting how you will do it based on your car behavior and style of driving,
we were waiting in a bowl for kals' popout to be fixed, we saw another group playing on the dunes around us, man that was tough to watch! made me appreciate the amount of skills and smooth style we are learning from our marshalls and senior drivers!
sorry for the long report, i thought i might not waste the readers' time with the same details over and over again!
what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, except for bears, bears will kill you!
i still can't forget our faces when [mention]Yoghybear[/mention] said "the scope is to have fun, not to put you in trouble, if i want a roll over i can get it in 5 minutes", i'm sure he meant to be nice and not scare us, but that made me think it wasn't my wisest decisions switching cars before a Yoghybear drive! but too late!
the drive started and immediately i felt how good my decision was to invest in an FJ, as i always said to everyone who asked me if the FJ felt better, the FJ is way more controllable, the weight distribution makes the car much easier to control, it's light so the power comes much faster when you need it, the Prado felt heavier, it didn't lack power but it wasn't as responsive, it needed lots of corrections to stay in track, the tail was really alive, felt like i'm dragging a trailer or something behind, BUT DON'T GET ME WRONG! I am not giving excuses! it's definitely the driver not the car, i just wanted to give an idea to anyone who's wondering if they should invest in an offroader that's suitable for the soft sand we drive in, i have no doubt in my mind now that it was the right decision.
first half an hour was more to adjust to the car, then the real fun started, [mention]zico[/mention] suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and i thought "from a 5+ drive to a drive with the Chief Marshall and Abu Tareq!!"...i was glad i didn't miss it.
before the usual [mention]Kals[/mention] pop out, we stood watching a climb that everyone ahead of us were doing, it was a climb then a sharp turn then going down a bit of a ditch then a bit of a climb again, basically you had to have enough momentum to climb then suddenly do a very sharp turn which transfers all the weight to the front turning wheel, and the sand shower that everyone ahead of us got from that wheel made me think i better be gentle or i'll have a popout, right after crossing it we heard Kals on the radio calling that he had a popout, i know he has a V8 pressing on his front tires and no weight in the back and all of that, but seeing how other drivers in other cars crossing an obstacle gives you a really good chance of adjusting how you will do it based on your car behavior and style of driving,
we were waiting in a bowl for kals' popout to be fixed, we saw another group playing on the dunes around us, man that was tough to watch! made me appreciate the amount of skills and smooth style we are learning from our marshalls and senior drivers!
sorry for the long report, i thought i might not waste the readers' time with the same details over and over again!
what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, except for bears, bears will kill you!
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DustnGlory
- Newbie
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:53 am
- Location: Earth
Hunting High and Low - another exciting drive with the club. I’ve been waiting a whole week to hit the sand in the FJ and that added to the excitement. I reached the meeting point at Nazwa a bit early and found [mention]JockJKU[/mention] already deflated and ready to roll. Soon more Almosters started joining. Thanks [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] and [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] for the quick 101 on FJ features and how to use it properly in the sand. We also had our chief marshall [mention]Yoghybear[/mention] who gave me tips on the pros and cons of a truck and FJ.
The meeting point was crowded with other clubs so we had to pretty much huddle together for the briefing by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] . The group was divided into 3 convoys and I was assigned to the convoy led by [mention]JockJKU[/mention] with [mention]presa[/mention] sweeping and [mention]Agalon[/mention] and [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] floating. I was a bit worried when we began the drive as on road the FJ felt like a toy compared to the Silverado. But a few minutes into the drive and this lil truck really won me over. Extremely agile and stable with more than enough power, all it needed was a light tap to get it moving over the dunes. This is very different compared to the Silverado where a lot of steering correction and full use of the V8 is required to keep the line and overcome the dunes. With the disadvantages of a LWB out of the way, I was able to concentrate more on learning new techniques and recalling what I’ve learned so far. Thanks [mention]presa[/mention] for guiding me on choosing the right angle when approaching a dune from the soft side. We had a few second tries and overall radio communication should improve (including me). [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] kept reminding us the importance of good communication when clearing tall dunes and during second tries. We took a short break at Pink Rock before continuing the second leg of the drive. I was having so much fun that when [mention]JockJKU[/mention] called out saying we’ve reached the end of the drive I couldn’t believe it was over so fast. Its only when I check the time I realized we’ve been driving for close to 3 hours. Once back at Badayer to inflate [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] came over with a teasing look asking ‘How was it? The drive with FJ!’ evilish Psmiley
Many thanks to the organizer [mention]Solmaz[/mention] , founder [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] , convoy lead [mention]JockJKU[/mention] , convoy sweep [mention]presa[/mention] floating marshalls [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] and [mention]Agalon[/mention] and all the drivers for this wonderful drive.
See you in the sand soon.
The meeting point was crowded with other clubs so we had to pretty much huddle together for the briefing by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] . The group was divided into 3 convoys and I was assigned to the convoy led by [mention]JockJKU[/mention] with [mention]presa[/mention] sweeping and [mention]Agalon[/mention] and [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] floating. I was a bit worried when we began the drive as on road the FJ felt like a toy compared to the Silverado. But a few minutes into the drive and this lil truck really won me over. Extremely agile and stable with more than enough power, all it needed was a light tap to get it moving over the dunes. This is very different compared to the Silverado where a lot of steering correction and full use of the V8 is required to keep the line and overcome the dunes. With the disadvantages of a LWB out of the way, I was able to concentrate more on learning new techniques and recalling what I’ve learned so far. Thanks [mention]presa[/mention] for guiding me on choosing the right angle when approaching a dune from the soft side. We had a few second tries and overall radio communication should improve (including me). [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] kept reminding us the importance of good communication when clearing tall dunes and during second tries. We took a short break at Pink Rock before continuing the second leg of the drive. I was having so much fun that when [mention]JockJKU[/mention] called out saying we’ve reached the end of the drive I couldn’t believe it was over so fast. Its only when I check the time I realized we’ve been driving for close to 3 hours. Once back at Badayer to inflate [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] came over with a teasing look asking ‘How was it? The drive with FJ!’ evilish Psmiley
Many thanks to the organizer [mention]Solmaz[/mention] , founder [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] , convoy lead [mention]JockJKU[/mention] , convoy sweep [mention]presa[/mention] floating marshalls [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] and [mention]Agalon[/mention] and all the drivers for this wonderful drive.
See you in the sand soon.
Jithin AKA Dust'nGlory
Drives an FJ = Silver Surfer =
Drives an FJ = Silver Surfer =
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Yoghybear
- Golden Member
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 2:19 pm
Dear all,
it looks like I have a wierd reputation :lol: ... nevertheless, you guys made me laugh a lot and this time the best part of the trip for me was to read your trip reports!
Well, I am not going through the trip again because all was written, all reports were nice and funny, but have to admit that Giorgio's report made me laugh a lot.
Long back there was a report by an Advance Driver who actually wrote "when we finally were out of the desert I kissed the ground" ...that trip was in Al Faqa area and lasted almost 5 hours (only few stuck and a lot of km) so you are still far from that point....but just wait for it thumbsup ... your time will come yaeh am not durnk
Said that, I want to congratulate with all of you guys, you did a great job and more fun as to come.
See you next time and drive always safely.
Cheers
Yoghy
it looks like I have a wierd reputation :lol: ... nevertheless, you guys made me laugh a lot and this time the best part of the trip for me was to read your trip reports!
Well, I am not going through the trip again because all was written, all reports were nice and funny, but have to admit that Giorgio's report made me laugh a lot.
Long back there was a report by an Advance Driver who actually wrote "when we finally were out of the desert I kissed the ground" ...that trip was in Al Faqa area and lasted almost 5 hours (only few stuck and a lot of km) so you are still far from that point....but just wait for it thumbsup ... your time will come yaeh am not durnk
Said that, I want to congratulate with all of you guys, you did a great job and more fun as to come.
See you next time and drive always safely.
Cheers
Yoghy
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kareem.alameldin
- Advance
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 1:01 pm
- Location: Dubai
I will frame that reply and hang it on the wall! thumbsupYoghybear wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 5:59 pm Dear all,
it looks like I have a wierd reputation :lol: ... nevertheless, you guys made me laugh a lot and this time the best part of the trip for me was to read your trip reports!
Well, I am not going through the trip again because all was written, all reports were nice and funny, but have to admit that Giorgio's report made me laugh a lot.
Long back there was a report by an Advance Driver who actually wrote "when we finally were out of the desert I kissed the ground" ...that trip was in Al Faqa area and lasted almost 5 hours (only few stuck and a lot of km) so you are still far from that point....but just wait for it thumbsup ... your time will come yaeh am not durnk
Said that, I want to congratulate with all of you guys, you did a great job and more fun as to come.
See you next time and drive always safely.
Cheers
Yoghy
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Barish
- Marshal
- Posts: 212
- Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:54 am
- Has thanked: 18 times
- Been thanked: 50 times
It was an ok weather in the morning compared to last 2 weeks and another crowded Almost 4x4 meeting point.
Drive started very smoothly after a good briefing, went on smoothly. There were some second tries and struggles inside a couple of bowls and one popout. [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] felt the true need to explain a couple of things especially on how to drive inside a bowl; believe me this will help you when you start driving in bu tais, wagan or liwa and find yourself on the ground and four sides of you is covered with high dunes..dont forget to try the circles rather than straight push
Take aways from this drive are; (1) dont chg tracks by your own and stop to ask direction when you see multiple tracks in front of you (2) dont fight gravity and nose always down if you struggle to climb
Thanks to [mention]Solmaz[/mention] for orginizing and great lead of aligned momentum with the convoy and finishing on time before the heat show off, thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for reminding some small tips for the drivers and all support team and drivers.
Do the chg if u think you may improve otherwise chg is unnecessary..
Barish
Drive started very smoothly after a good briefing, went on smoothly. There were some second tries and struggles inside a couple of bowls and one popout. [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] felt the true need to explain a couple of things especially on how to drive inside a bowl; believe me this will help you when you start driving in bu tais, wagan or liwa and find yourself on the ground and four sides of you is covered with high dunes..dont forget to try the circles rather than straight push
Take aways from this drive are; (1) dont chg tracks by your own and stop to ask direction when you see multiple tracks in front of you (2) dont fight gravity and nose always down if you struggle to climb
Thanks to [mention]Solmaz[/mention] for orginizing and great lead of aligned momentum with the convoy and finishing on time before the heat show off, thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for reminding some small tips for the drivers and all support team and drivers.
Do the chg if u think you may improve otherwise chg is unnecessary..
Barish
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Solmaz
- Marshal
- Posts: 83
- Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2013 8:44 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 157 times
- Been thanked: 115 times
- Contact:
Another great day with my almost family.
I reached the meeting point 20 minutes early to welcome everyone, but to my surprise, most of the drivers were already there. After the attendance and distribution of the convoys, I revealed our little surprise about the third convoy. Ohh boy, those faces were priceless. XD
After the first briefing, we took off to our starting point with [mention]JockJKU[/mention]'s convoy There we had another quick briefing about the "low and high" dunes we'll face during the drive. The track started with clean small dunes where we warmed up and exercised climbing from the soft side. All the members did great and we reached higher dunes of Pink Rock only with a few second tries. There, things got a little messy as there were quite a few other tracks around.
Especially in this kind of areas, where dunes are higher and there are multiple tracks, keeping the correct DISTANCE is crucial. Too far and you'll risk losing the track, too close you won't have time to react if the car in front slows down. Also, never make a guess if you are not sure about which track to follow, just stop, ask for help and your guardian angels will be there as always.
After a quick briefing on how to gain and maintain speed in bowls from [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] we reached Pink Rock and had our break with [mention]JockJKU[/mention] 's convoy.
From there to Badayer bridge we had a fun, smooth drive in safari style. (except one little popout which was fixed in no time)
Thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention], [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] and [mention]Barish[/mention] for being our guardian angels, thanks to [mention]Issa[/mention] and [mention]Mo Sh[/mention] for their great support.
See you all in sand.
I reached the meeting point 20 minutes early to welcome everyone, but to my surprise, most of the drivers were already there. After the attendance and distribution of the convoys, I revealed our little surprise about the third convoy. Ohh boy, those faces were priceless. XD
After the first briefing, we took off to our starting point with [mention]JockJKU[/mention]'s convoy There we had another quick briefing about the "low and high" dunes we'll face during the drive. The track started with clean small dunes where we warmed up and exercised climbing from the soft side. All the members did great and we reached higher dunes of Pink Rock only with a few second tries. There, things got a little messy as there were quite a few other tracks around.
Especially in this kind of areas, where dunes are higher and there are multiple tracks, keeping the correct DISTANCE is crucial. Too far and you'll risk losing the track, too close you won't have time to react if the car in front slows down. Also, never make a guess if you are not sure about which track to follow, just stop, ask for help and your guardian angels will be there as always.
After a quick briefing on how to gain and maintain speed in bowls from [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] we reached Pink Rock and had our break with [mention]JockJKU[/mention] 's convoy.
From there to Badayer bridge we had a fun, smooth drive in safari style. (except one little popout which was fixed in no time)
Thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention], [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] and [mention]Barish[/mention] for being our guardian angels, thanks to [mention]Issa[/mention] and [mention]Mo Sh[/mention] for their great support.
See you all in sand.
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giorgio
- Marshal
- Posts: 454
- Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 4:04 pm
- Has thanked: 690 times
- Been thanked: 491 times
There is so much I want to say regarding the statement ".but just wait for it thumbsup ... your time will come yaeh am not durnk" but my fingers refuse to type my thoughts TT TT TT TT TT TTYoghybear wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 5:59 pm Dear all,
it looks like I have a wierd reputation :lol: ... nevertheless, you guys made me laugh a lot and this time the best part of the trip for me was to read your trip reports!
Well, I am not going through the trip again because all was written, all reports were nice and funny, but have to admit that Giorgio's report made me laugh a lot.
Long back there was a report by an Advance Driver who actually wrote "when we finally were out of the desert I kissed the ground" ...that trip was in Al Faqa area and lasted almost 5 hours (only few stuck and a lot of km) so you are still far from that point....but just wait for it thumbsup ... your time will come yaeh am not durnk
Said that, I want to congratulate with all of you guys, you did a great job and more fun as to come.
See you next time and drive always safely.
Cheers
Yoghy
The Wolf is not concerned with the opinion of the sheep
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JockJKU
- Club Member
- Posts: 231
- Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2016 5:47 pm
Hello All!!
This was a great drive, superbly organised and delivered by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] !!
I was the first to the meeting point, which was already busy with another club, but thankfully they set off before us and did not interfere with the track planned by [mention]Solmaz[/mention]
Everyone arrived in good time, and the briefing was delivered by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] and surprised the newbies with the introduction of the 3rd convoy to be led by [mention]Yoghybear[/mention] !! From the trip reports already posted i can see that those in that convoy were first petrified, and then ended up loving the drive - I would say that is standard for a [mention]Yoghybear[/mention] convoy, i have been in that situation myself many times!!!
The other convoys were split and I was leading 5+ and some new 10+. The route picked by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] was great and allowed to adjust the level easily in reaction to how the convoy was handling it! We started off in the small stuff, a few little steps, some safari and a special ditch that when i found it I knew i had to turn so that i could see [mention]Hakkoum[/mention] tackle it! He hit it like a brick wall! The dunes gradually got bigger with some faster safari, a few drops and a couple of nice climbs before it was time to head round the rock and meet the other convoy up at the Pink Rock gathering point.
After the break there were several options to head back to the finish point! I went a bit right and stayed in the bigger dunes to start off with, we had a few nice climbs, and threw in a couple of double crests which caused a few delays!! After that we hit the smaller stuff again, looking for an easier path to the road!
Thanks to [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] for the support, and the overseeing of the many situations!! It's not till you are at the front that you realise how important the support is! Really at the front you are just picking the route, the management of the convoy comes from the guys in the middle, the back and floating - they are the key jobs, and are very important! In that regard, thanks [mention]Agalon[/mention] and [mention]presa[/mention] !! Thanks also to [mention]haider alnuaimi[/mention] for the 2nd Lead. As always you guys turn up and support hard for the benefit of all, much appreciated!!
Thanks to everyone for joining!!
Till next time,
Jock
This was a great drive, superbly organised and delivered by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] !!
I was the first to the meeting point, which was already busy with another club, but thankfully they set off before us and did not interfere with the track planned by [mention]Solmaz[/mention]
Everyone arrived in good time, and the briefing was delivered by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] and surprised the newbies with the introduction of the 3rd convoy to be led by [mention]Yoghybear[/mention] !! From the trip reports already posted i can see that those in that convoy were first petrified, and then ended up loving the drive - I would say that is standard for a [mention]Yoghybear[/mention] convoy, i have been in that situation myself many times!!!
The other convoys were split and I was leading 5+ and some new 10+. The route picked by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] was great and allowed to adjust the level easily in reaction to how the convoy was handling it! We started off in the small stuff, a few little steps, some safari and a special ditch that when i found it I knew i had to turn so that i could see [mention]Hakkoum[/mention] tackle it! He hit it like a brick wall! The dunes gradually got bigger with some faster safari, a few drops and a couple of nice climbs before it was time to head round the rock and meet the other convoy up at the Pink Rock gathering point.
After the break there were several options to head back to the finish point! I went a bit right and stayed in the bigger dunes to start off with, we had a few nice climbs, and threw in a couple of double crests which caused a few delays!! After that we hit the smaller stuff again, looking for an easier path to the road!
Thanks to [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] for the support, and the overseeing of the many situations!! It's not till you are at the front that you realise how important the support is! Really at the front you are just picking the route, the management of the convoy comes from the guys in the middle, the back and floating - they are the key jobs, and are very important! In that regard, thanks [mention]Agalon[/mention] and [mention]presa[/mention] !! Thanks also to [mention]haider alnuaimi[/mention] for the 2nd Lead. As always you guys turn up and support hard for the benefit of all, much appreciated!!
Thanks to everyone for joining!!
Till next time,
Jock
