The Duners

[Sostick]

Thank you [mention]Solmaz[/mention] for leading such a long convoy in safety still fun way! We experienced lots of side creating first with small dunes and then with higher dunes. I personally understood a lot about the right trajectory and speed! It was a very insightful drive. We got some pop outs but a part from this the drive was smooth. Also big thanks to [mention]Rooies[/mention] for informing me about every single ditch round on the track ... and there were many! My bumper is grateful!

See you all in the sand

Sostick

[Adrian]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks to all the organisers for the generous donation of your time and experience to us newcomers. Although this drive was a bit slow due to the early incident with damage to a radiator and bumper and then lots of stuck situations and retries, I still enjoyed the trip and learnt a few more things. It was interesting to see that the pop out could not be fixed due to the fact that the rim of the wheel was particularly wide compared to the tyre width so then the spare wheel had to be used. I then got to appreciate just how difficult it is to replace an offroad tyre (it looked very heavy) in the sand. If you don't know what you're doing this could be quite dangerous. A hole had to be dug around the wheel and the edge got quite close to the wood supporting the jack. Luckily there were people there with experience, brains and muscles (not everyone had all 3 qualities!) to fix it.
Thanks again to the convoy leaders.
Adrian (Blue FJ)

[Barish]

It was a long day; all started with a nice morning and gathering, silent start and gradually we reached to a level that the drive became a training course for all our new members that they would not be able to find that live experience anywhere even if ready to pay.

We have seen how to safely climb, fix popout, chg tire, use the tools, make recoveries in different situations and drive on different type of sand. It is now clear to all why we inspect all those tools; we used almost all of those in different situations during the drive.

It is maybe time to remind to all our new members; getting stuck is no shame, it is the sign of you are not risking yourself and your car. Just dont fly and try not to exceed the max number of stucks in a drive.

I would like to thank to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for the exclusive "Leading to Teach" - could be a nice drive name, [mention]Agalon[/mention]and [mention]Gabor[/mention] for the support. All drivers did it well and i believe enjoyed the drive and earnings from the day.

Reminder for all to improve if you are chging.

Barish

[osman]

Dears,

This was another treat for me after 5 weeks of very hectic & long work and the personal engagements like moving from one apartment to another. The challenge started with the enrolment since on Sunday 6PM, my daughter had a performance and I had to be there to watch her. After checking the watch few times in every minute, when the time come, I shamefully bent myself, stretched my arms under the seat of the theatre, tried to disguise the phone, keep refreshing the page, then finally completed the competition with success. Thankfully, my daughter was not at the stage at that time so I could not be embarrassed even more...

The drive day started with a very heavy fog but it cleared-up 10 or so Kms before the meeting point. We then split into two convoys as expected and I was in [mention]Solmaz[/mention]'s convoy but unfortunately I was not as successful as in the registration to line-up at front, but no complains, i had to drive over destroyed wet dunes. It was a different visual experience to see the wet top part of the dunes breaking and sliding over the dry ones as the cars front drive along.

The convoy was relatively long, I believe it was 16 cars or so. I believe this played a role with the previous rains so that from time to time the pace of the drive was not high. We had nice side crests to practice as well as some technical areas. We covered 51Kms in roughly two hours of moving time. Overall, it was a nice potpourri, thanks to [mention]Solmaz[/mention] for leading us such an enjoyable and nice drive. I think the rescue team [mention]Bu Zayed[/mention], [mention]jose[/mention] and [mention]Petr[/mention] had relatively little help to offer as everyone did well.

See you next time on the sand...

[Alexandar]

I reached our meeting point an hour in advance. I was determined to start the drive in a more relaxed manner. So I came in early, deflated, set the car up and then put up my camping chair and had breakfast.

We were driving in Al Qudra this time.

There were two convoy’s. I was in [mention]Shamsi[/mention] -5 convoy. It’s was an easy drive but an important one. As I learnt much more in recovery that in most other drives. Sometimes just driving isn’t important. Learning the different styles of recovery are important as well.

Around 10 mins of driving into the desert we had an incident with a jeep. disapointed The driver didn’t follow the track and he strayed a meter to the right while he was doing his second try. This caught him out as he dashed into the dune like an arrow. His radiator broke and it started leaking, it would not hold any coolant. As it could not be driven anymore, he had to be pulled out and a recovery had to be called.

Shamsi asked to borrow my FJ. We hooked up his jeep to mine & [mention]Agalon[/mention] towed it out of the desert. If you thought dunes bashing with your own car is interesting try attaching a car to yours and climbing up dunes. Didn’t realized the FJ had this much towing power and it was such a quick and smooth recovery. Or maybe the support was just so confident. We dropped him off at Sky Dive parking and were instructed to head back to the convoy to start off again.

As I was behind the convoy I got to observe and study most of the recovery’s and the 2nd tries. It was interesting to see how different cars and their drivers tackle the dunes.

Towards the end of the drive we had a pop out. The teacher in shamsi must have been overjoyed as he gathered the members for pop out training 101. We all got practical knowledge on how to fix a pop out and how to replace the tire if necessary. At the beginning of the year I was terrified of a pop out. Before every drive I used to wish never to have one. But over the course of these drives I have become more confident and understand that a pop out is a natural occurrence that can happen. Nothing to be afraid of. Just ensure that you have the right tools. Or that you have a friend with you with the right tools.

We were supposed to end the drive at 1130 but ended only by 1 as there were so many recovery's or 2nd tries going on.

Thank you to our founder for a good track and to the two supports [mention]Barish[/mention] & [mention]Agalon[/mention]…. You guys were zooming around every where, and you guys made it look so much fun.

Till next time…..

[Tekton]

Hello everyone,

Thanks to Marshals for Organizing the event.

Thank you [mention]Abu Jimmy[/mention] [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] . It was a nice & relaxing ride until the last left turn when i did sharp turn with little more speed that result in tire pop out.

We tried to fix pop out but didn't work so we replaced it with spare tire, (later that day i went to tire workshop and find out that the tire was cut from inside on edge so it could not be fixed but to replaced with new one).

Also I would like to thanks to Intermediate drivers for making everyone's life easy, doing all recoveries and dirty works :D.

Overall it was nice and relaxing I enjoyed!!

Thanks once again,
Almost4x4 - Tekton

[Rooies]

It was Friday what means it was drive day, they day that we all are looking forward to on a weekend.

We met at the meeting point & I saw the regulars & a lot of new newbie faces. There was even one guy from the public that wanted to join in the fun.
We went through the usual drills, had the briefing & got into out convoys.

Our convoy was fairly big, 13/14 cars excluding sweepers. We headed into the dunes with the promise of [mention]Solmaz[/mention] a for some side cresting & nice climbs. About 500m into the drive we had our first stuck OSMILEY ka boom , but fortunately it was quickly resolved & we were on our way again. The following distances was way to close which resulted in a few second tries & stucks. During one stuck we chatted & said we will make the distances bigger & since we did that things started becoming a bit smoother.

I called out most of the ditches so that [mention]Sostick[/mention] stick & [mention]DustnGlory[/mention] lory did not mess up their bumpers, now they can help me to pay to get my skidplate straightened again grin .

While driving I saw @alshamsi_m sitting on his truck observing the area. The next moment he spoke over or radios, he took out a few guys regarding following distance & not looking after the guys behind him, apparently his convoy was "playing" behind another dune. We stopped to fix a pop out & not long before we were back on the road.

We did some small side crest & a few nice climbs, @Solmaz asked if we would object if she made the drive longer.....Really objecting to make the drive longer, the person objecting must be.....Anyway we made the drive longer & had more fun till we had another pop out. That was also fairly quickly fixed & we were back on the road again.

Overall it was a nice drive, the sand was hard & the scenery was beautiful. Thank you to @Abu Jimmy for organizing the drive & the other marshalls & inters for looking after us.

Till we meet in the sand again, take care.

Greetings
Rooies

[Rooies]

Thank you @Solmaz for leading such a long convoy in safety still fun way! We experienced lots of side creating first with small dunes and then with higher dunes. I personally understood a lot about the right trajectory and speed! It was a very insightful drive. We got some pop outs but a part from this the drive was smooth. Also big thanks to @Rooies for informing me about every single ditch round on the track ... and there were many! My bumper is grateful!

See you all in the sand

Sostick

Now you can help me pay to fix mine grin

[Taco]

Hello everyone!

I'm late again but here is my report :)

This was my first drive after earning my Newbie star! I had a lot of support from the marshalls and experienced members of the club while trying to complete my tools and my special thanks go to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] who really went above and beyond to help me. I was actually a bit late to complete my tools and the drive was already full by the time I got my Newbie star but our merciful founder and marshalls did accept me to drive, for which I can't thank them enough. Having completed my CM drive just a week before, we were luckily given priority in this drive.

When we showed up at the meeting point with my faithful co-pilot (read as wife :D) majority of the drivers were already there. I keep thinking I'm early but I guess I need to start showing up at least 30minutes before the meeting time to be considered even on time. This actually shows what a great environment this club has as all members are very friendly and everyone enjoys a nice chat before the drive.

I met with 2 fellow Pajero drivers that morning [mention]Loca[/mention] and [mention]aminemac[/mention] . To be honest, it was a soothing feeling to meet them as it kind of feels intimidating with the majority driving Wranglers & FJs *sigh. We exchanged some nice details and ideas about our cars, being the minority in the group :) [mention]aminemac[/mention] was in my convoy and right in front me so it was nice seeing how the Pajero reacts which I watched very closely. USE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN!!

The convoy was split into 2, for 5- drivers and 10+ drivers. Our convoy was led by [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and we had [mention]Barish[/mention] & [mention]Agalon[/mention] for support.

It had been raining for a few days before the trip so the sand was quite hard and compacted but as the day progressed sun made sure that the top layer of sand was also dried and soft. We had a bit of a rough start as one of the drivers had an unpleasant accident which looked like a minor one and no airbags were deployed but it turned out to be more serious. The driver wasn't harmed but his car wasn't in good shape to continue to drive (leaking radiator). I'd like to applaud [mention]Barish[/mention] & [mention]Agalon[/mention] as they towed his car back to the asphalt, made sure he was OK and left him at a safe location where the recovery truck could find him easily and where he could have refreshments and not be alone by himself.

We learned a very important lesson at the beginning of our drive, though I wish it wasn't at the expense of another member :( ALWAYS FOLLOW THE TRACK LAID BY THE MARSHALL, DO NOT EVEN DEVIATE BY A METER FROM IT as the accident was caused because the driver started the climb only from a meter to the side of the original track.

Rest of the drive was mostly uneventful, [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] adjusted the pace and complexity of the drive in such a way that we started tackling bigger challenges without even noticing that we were getting more serious. We took a break at one point where [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] demonstrated how much difference the approach speed makes when starting to climb a dune, too sloow, you get stuck, too fast, you will hit the front skid plate, just the right speed and the vehicle simply floats over the dune so smoothly and magically. This was a very nice teaching moment and I doubt anyone else at any other club would actually care so much about the Newbie members to teach them like this. At the end of the day, it's very important to overcome challenges without hurting our vehicles, it's not just about managing to get from point A to B!

We had a couple of stucks, self and assisted recoveries, as well as re-tries which were all good without anything major. Most of us are still learning about our vehicles while trying to learn how to drive in the desert so it is a bit challenging but I could not be more satisfied and happy with how we're given a mix of challenges to learn both aspects of driving off-road at the same time.

Towards the end of the drive there was a pop-out and we spent quite a bit of time trying to fix this but at the end (apparently due to a size mismatch between the rim and tyre) decision was made to replace it with the spare wheel. Although it was not a successful operation we did learn a lot about the process!

We had quite a long straight drive on some hard terrain after this to reach the asphalt where this time we used our compressors to air up as there was no petrol station nearby!

It was a great morning overall with lots of learning opportunities -as usual!- and again left us wanting more by the time the drive had ended! Thanking everyone once again for the organization and the wonderful experience!

ps Watching [mention]Barish[/mention] & [mention]Agalon[/mention] floating around the convoy throughout the trip and seeing how much fun they were having made us all drool, imagining the days when we will also have enough experience to drive like that!

[Daggerfall]

ps Watching @Barish & @Daggerfall floating around the convoy throughout the trip and seeing how much fun they were having made us all drool, imagining the days when we will also have enough experience to drive like that!

Nice report bro. I wish I was there you're kidding, right you're kidding, right you're kidding, right