Almost4x4

TECH by name and certainly technical by nature! A tough day led by Yoghybear with Strawb and Al Falasi keeping us all on track. The meet point for this drive was about 15km south of Al Badayer. As soon as I checked the coordinates on google earth I thought to myself "low ratio!" as I have been there before and remembered doing far too many gear changes from 1st to 2nd and back to 1st again!

Anyhow, arrived at 2pm to be met by Yoghybear clutching a clip board. "Equipment Check" After a rummage around my trunk I seemed to have most of what was required. May visit Dragon Mart and Ace this week.......! After counting 8 Jeeps I was happy to see 2 more Nissan's turn up. It seemed like a Jeep Jamboree to start out. No place for a Nissan! I noticed OxanaLa had changed her luxury Mercedes SUV for a familiar rugged looking Pathfinder. When I asked had she down graded she corrected me saying she had upgraded! That will put a smile on Caprihorse's face if he is reading this from afar.

So off we set northbound towards Badayer and straight away I realised it would be a hard day. Rather than being hard from all the rain the sand had turned almost mud like in texture in many area's. One minute it was fine then suddenly you sink down half a foot and the engine revs drop down towards a stall. It was not long before the first stuck 4x4. The dunes were sharp and packed so close to one another that every recovery required careful consideration. Strawb worked hard today!

I was number 2 in convoy so had almost virgin sand around me, even though Yoghybear was doing his best to churn it up in places with his big mud terrains! I fully believe it was a mess by the time 5 or 6 cars had passed through so most of the trouble came from the rear placed cars. The 2 Jeep Liberty's struggled most it seems but a pop out and some "minor" damage could not stop both from finishing the day. Both drivers worked hard but did a great job getting them to Badayer!

It has been over 10 weeks since I did a club drive and almost forgot how much work goes into keeping a convoy of 10+ cars together. Today the dunes averaged about 7-8 feet high but each one was different in texture and sharpness. We had many sharp descents where the bumpers scraped against the exit out and within 30 seconds there was another sharp drop but this time followed by a sharp left or right turn to escape without getting bogged down. Hard work leading and thinking about another 10 cars that need to follow! Great job Yoghybear! Only about 12km of hard driving was covered in almost 3 hours. And we didn't hang about! I believe every Newbie today drove an Intermediate track and drove it well!

We made it to Al Badayer for sunset, each one of us caked in sand from the afternoon sand storm. Showered and tucked up in bed now thinking how great it is to be part of this club.

Thanks to everyone involved today. Really hope another 10 weeks doesn't pass till I can drive with you all again.

As Dave said above, TECH 1 was a very different, difficult & a unique experience, i believe for most or for all the newbies today. Thanks Yoghy for leading & strawb for sweeping us through these tough dunes which has, with no doubt, increased our skills.

Well, as dave was 2nd in the lead and has explained very well about the drive and his experience, but mine was totally different, i was the last one before the sweeper (Strawb) who has to make way through all the messy tracks....Windy cold breeze has removed all the loose sand and most of the sand crust was like frozen or became a bit muddy on top but soft underneath. It was tough to drive at the back today, because there were always 8-9 tracks in front of me, that too of hard & soft sand and at each & every sharp curve, climb or at drops it was a different story. But that's for what we are driving under the guidance of the experienced marshals.

While trying to make my way through all those track, slight miscalculation of speed resulted in my first ever pop-out experience, and the tools checklist came into act. Me & Redshark, both of us got the pop out at the same time.

Thanks marshals for pushing us to keep all the recovery tools in our cars which helped me in fixing the pop out very fast with the help of Yoghy.

After trying different combinations of speed & momentum, i finally figured out the better way to drive through all those scary tracks and than it turned out to be easy to go through them. Although we always learn new things in every trip, but today not only me, all the drivers has learnt a lot.

Our two friends in Jeep Liberty, had lost some of the plastics in front but all those drivers who has not got any damage, i must say, they were really lucky (including me)

Finally i would again like to say thanks to Yoghy for leading us through such a skillful drive, thanks Strawb for sweeping & doing a great job and thanks to Al Falasi for keeping eye on all the drivers and helping in between to keep the convoy moving.

[quote=Dave;32118]... No place for a Nissan! I noticed OxanaLa had changed her luxury Mercedes SUV for a familiar rugged looking Toyota. ...[/quote]
Never in my life I thought that Toyota and Nissan are looking same and can be misinterpreted. Additionally I thought that The Legendary Pathfinder will stay forever in the memories of all off-roaders.
Dave, I think you will stay Newbie forever. :-)

So sorry Caprihorse! How could I mistake your Nissan for a Toyota! Forget staying a Newbie forever. I need to go back to CM level and start over! I have to say your old car was being driven very well by its new owner and your strong bumper was put to good use protecting everything else behind it!

Must dash. My Toyota Patrol needs a good wash after yesterday's drive.........!!!

[quote=RedShark;32121]...
Thanks to everybody helping me out ,figured out my stock Jack will not be useful in such situations specially with lift ,thanks to GG for the trolley Jack
[/quote]
Isn't it a right time for you to think about the right tools, especially with your frequent pop-outs?

[quote=Dave;32123]So sorry Caprihorse! How could I mistake your Nissan for a Toyota! Forget staying a Newbie forever. I need to go back to CM level and start over! I have to say your old car was being driven very well by its new owner and your strong bumper was put to good use protecting everything else behind it!

Must dash. My Toyota Patrol needs a good wash after yesterday's drive.........!!![/quote]
Nice, OK, back to roots, to CM, I'll try my best to convince Marshals to accept you :-)

Before there are any more suggestions and "likes" of me being relegated back to CM level over getting my Nissan's and Toyota's mixed up I have edited my original post! Nothing seems to get past Caprihorse, even when he is thousands of miles away! Once a Chief Marshal always a Chief Marshal!

[quote=Dave;32123]So sorry Caprihorse! How could I mistake your Nissan for a Toyota! Forget staying a Newbie forever. I need to go back to CM level and start over![/quote]
Dave, no need to go back to CM. That was our female tricky stuff. You won't believe what changes can be done to a woman if she visits the beauty salon too often, like we do with Legend... Just be careful to not be confused in the real life! :060: