Early breakfast,,, fly & dive

[Muhittin]

Thank you all for this wonderful trip,
Thank you Strab and Yoghy for all your efforts.
it was amazing track, challenging, and it adds a lot of experiences to drivers..

Photos:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 6921e880bc

Video:

[video=youtube_share;kwfNHE5rJO0][/video]

[Dave]

Well, as the title suggests it was an early start to this Saturday's drive. My ''early breakfast'' was a coffee and croissant and my local Emarat gas station at 5.15am!! The sun was only just waking up and the meet was Al Badayer shops at 6am sharp. It was clear from our PM that we should not be late otherwise we upset the Bear! After the usual friendly Almost4x4 meet and greet, deflation and quick check that our 4x4's are ready for some early morning punishment Yoghybear gave a brief. Strawb would lead. Yoghy would cover from the back and Armin would help with the recovery's required. The target was to make Iftar bowl. As this was a 5 plus drive I thought considering the terrain behind Al Badayer, the softness of the sand due summer heat plus the problems for the 4x4's that come with the high temperatures and the relative low experience of some of the new members this mission would be a fail.....

However, someone forgot to tell Strawb it was a 5 plus level drive! Unless he misunderstood the number to be the time of morning we set our alarms. Or it was the minimum number of Dirhams in our wallets. Either way, this was going to be a fun drive! I was second lead, with Orlantsev just behind in his FJ (always keeping a safe distance so thank you!) and we set off. The first 20 minutes were a little frustrating as everyone was settling into the ''convoy'' way of driving. Gaps were too big or too small. And we had too many stucks over a short distance. Our patient Yoghy Bear was slowly turning into a Grizzly at the back. I was glad to be about 12 cars up ahead!

Next was a surprise. Rather than slow down Strawb did the opposite....and really went for it. Having driven on a few 10 plus drives this easily compared in pace. Added to that rather than go around the bigger bowls and dunes like we did on my old plus 5 drives we tackled everything on our path. But now we really did pick up our standard as a convoy. I can only guess the added adrenaline and forced concentration woke everyone up. Suddenly we worked much better as a convoy and really started to cover some ground. Don't get me wrong, we still did have a few ''stucks'' and ''go arounds'' but now the terrain we were crossing gave an excuse for those. Up front we were isolated from most of the action behind us. The grizzly was getting louder and louder as some of his comments and suggestions were being ignored. I kept hearing ''don't sleep'' and ''go faster'' and ''200m is not 20m gap!!'' on the radio every two minutes or so. But before we all knew it we had arrived at Iftar bowl! I wont say in one piece as there was a little damage here and there, but all cosmetic!

Next was some free play for the Marshals and Intermediates who tagged along. The three 4-door wranglers really tore up the Iftar bowl. A cheeky Newbie in a Patrol sneaked in also just to add some Japanese to the mix....! As a bonus for getting her second star Oxana also got a second car! It looked very similar to Mini Me but she treated it very gently and reframed from the free play. Yoghy came over for a time check as he believed the clock on his phone broke, but it had not. Yes it was only 8.20am! Great, lets set off to super bowl!

More tall dunes and one big bowl later we were almost there. Again, being up ahead we were isolated from the action but the bowl, only 200m from Superbowl was nasty. If you didn't commit to speed it would suck you down. It caused some problems and again the radio got busy. Almost like someone stole the Bears honey! I will wait for trip reports from those at the back but it sounded like too many cars were following each other into the bowl without waiting for others to clear. A pile up at the bottom of one of these is not what you want!

Anyhow, we did make it to Superbowl and again some free play for those blessed with more than one star, plus the cheeky Patrol Newbie made another appearance...! A good incentive for the Newbies to gain more experience and see how much fun awaits at the next level and more importantly how much more there is still to learn and be learnt! Its fair to say we had our fair share of fun so returned towards Al Badayer via Area 53. We had one final stretch of dunes with some sharp drops and maybe some drivers were tired and also now being about 10am and 40 degrees out side. Anyhow, I heard Strawb getting excited on the radio as being a lead driver he was blessed with a 7th sense of danger. He was yelling at a black 2-door wrangler to slow down and as I looked out to the side I saw this Jeep airborne coming in to land on the back of a 4 door wrangler!! We almost had the first 6-door wrangler join our club and just from sheer luck an accident was averted! It just goes to show how serious we need to respect one another in the convoy and always keep a safe distance! JJ's wrangler to my surprise had minimal damage after his ''landing''. Though Mark B did damage his underpants after seeing nothing but airborne Jeep in his rear view mirror!

As always, this trip was well worth getting out of bed for. I believe even though there were many stucks and Yoghybear's blood pressure may have risen faster than the thermostat this morning much was on offer to be taken away and slept on. A few dents and missing plastic parts here and there for carrying too much speed and a lot of stucks for not carrying enough but there is some middle ground somewhere and by driving with this club you will find it and become a better, safer more confident driver.

Thanks to Yoghy, Strawb and Armin for keeping everyone safe. To my fellow Newbies for being friendly and enthusiastic as always. And hats off to the Intermediates who showed up. Camping Thursday night under the Al Ain sky, Friday tackling Sweihan dunes and still you wake at 5am Saturday to drive in the dunes!! That is dedication! See you all again soon.

[orlantsev]

First of all it was very unexpected trip. I cannot recall that anything was posted as late as Thursday which was exactly the case this time. It was indeed a great gift from Almost 4*4 and another testament that you always need to be alert to get your seat. On the way to the meeting point I enjoyed the sunrise over the dunes. I came to the meeting point first and for few minutes wondered if I got to the right place, but few minutes later Yoghy arrived. I was placed to be 3rd in a convoy behind Strawb and Dave. Normal pace, few places were a bit tricky, but generally it went well. As Dave said being in the front of the convoy we could only hear on the radio what was happening behind and judging by the intensity of the conversation it was a lot :) Then things turned a bit bad for me. I started to feel that the car was unusually pulling to the right. When we stopped at the bowl I decided to check the pressure and the front right tire only had 6 psi. I inflated, but when we stopped at the next bowl it dropped to 6 again. Strawb was very kind to suggest to change a pin and gave me one. I changed, inflated again, made few rounds around the area while waiting for the convoy behind and everything nicely settled. It tells you that such a small thing could destroy the trip if you do not carry stock and cannot identify what the problem is. On the way back I got stuck in a pile of soft sand and what made it more difficult was the wall of sand just ahead of me which did not provide too much space to move. My visual inspection when I got of the car led me to judge that the stuck was serious and I would need to be pulled. Armin came to rescue and by engaging 4L slowly and gradually he helped me to self-recover. In the end I even happy about that stuck as it taught me something new. Few other personal highlight of the day were certainly a near miss between JJ and Mark(I just happened to turn around so saw the entire action) and fly by Sacha at the bowl. It was the first time my girlfriend came along. Her first reaction after we got back to Badayaer was 'never again I am coming', but she softened during the drive back to Dubai and said that it was fun in the end. I got back noon, slept for a couple of hours and hit the gym. Such a great and fulfilling weekend.

[KIMOz]

First of all, I would like to thank Yoghybear and Strawb for that amazing drive. This drive was one of the different drives as Strawb was checking our abilities to drive through a higher level track which I really like and appreciate so we can be prepared to 10+ ones. This time we had to wake up early to reach on time, the weather was amazing by in the early morning and the sand was cold. On my way to the meeting point I started smelling the sand miles away far from Badayer when I met Margrita coincidentally on Hatta-Oman road. After we all reached the meeting point, prepared our toys and had a small chitchat, we started the drive and I was asked by Yoghy to drive at the back (maybe for a training to be a sweeper in the future :P) . Everything was running smoothly in the front of the convoy, unlikely at the back as there was a big gap in the middle of the convoy and some stucks. We drove over soft and sharp dunes reaching the Iftar Bowl. All kids (Newbie) were watching the big boys climbing the bowl which I felt that my feet itching me as I wanted to [floor it] and climb … hahaha. During that time I realized that my rear plate number was 90 degrees bended so I let my friend to take me a shot with it for such a great memory :P. Later after that amazing break, we continued to Super Bowl. On the way, I guess Strawb forgot that this was 5+ drives and he gave everybody the opportunity to test their front bumpers :D as we went down a very steep dune and we heard and felt a hit at the front. It was very funny when all of us stopped at the same time for checking or bumpers :D. Then we headed to Super Bowl and again the intermediates had a great time there. Afterwards, we passed by Area 53 then Badayer . In general I and I’m sure that everybody learned a lot from today’s drive as we passed through tough areas and had some flys and dives :P and I’m glad that my baby didn’t let me down :D. The track was 35.3 km and it took us 3 hr 30 min to cross it (including the stops). Great thanks again to Yoghybear and Strawb. Meet you all soon in sand :D.
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[Mark B]

Early Breakfast 2014-06-07

For me, the best and most technical trip yet.

Thanks Strawb and Yoghybear for organizing and running the trip.

Thanks JJ for the midair maneuver to avoid using my roof as a landing strip.

The sand on this trip was a lot looser than on previous trips. Strawb cut a path through increasingly soft sand typically crossing over from one side to another side of the dunes at the crest helping us Newbies to get used to the instability that brings. I learned that momentum is our friend. The vehicle becomes a toboggan as all 4 wheels are in the air for that briefest of time as you transition from one side to the other.

This was also my first taste of drifting (all be it on smaller dunes) on the crescent side of the dune. It is amazing how the Wrangler stayed on line if my speed and RPMs stayed up. Slow down and you have to pick another line to keep from stalling.

We had Intermediates along on this trip and when we arrived at Super Bowl, they and the Marshals demonstrated their skills by climbing and drifting on this monster bowl. I am looking forward to learning and earning the skills to be able to do the same.

Thanks again all for an awesome trip this weekend. Hope to see you all soon.

[vimal]

Thanks to Almost 4x4 for a great drive

Finally we accomplished the target (Iftar Bowl & Super Bowl which we missed in last drive) with minor damages (for me its major damage- Hope my car will get repaired in another 3 days)
Points I learnt in this drive.

• I was thinking Badayar shops will be open, but it was not open so I was starving for water with a HUGE BREAK FAST served by Strawb & Yoghy.
• 2 stuck ups (I need a smaller hook& D shacke for my car, will buy this week)
• 1 Dive (As Dave/ Muhittin said in title “ Fly & Dive”, I am the one dived superbly near super bowl, Bumper got damaged & 5 mm shift in the front frames)
• Offroad Insurance (Definitely I need offroad insurance & Skid plates, then only I have to take my vehicle offroad.)
• As Ginger Said in earlier trips “ I have to remove the fuse of Air bag before the offroad road drives

Overall it was a THRILL DRIVE. Thanks to Yoghy & Strawb for selecting this route.

POST DRIVE:
Thanks to Abu Jimmy & Hockey for the great ideas/help for rectifying
the damages

[Oggy]

Thanks for the stories Guys, sounds like I missed a great Drive.

My JK decide it didn't want to play the night before, the second battery in 2 years. :(

i hope that I'm not working and find out about the next trip early enough, it's been too long since my last Almost4x4 trip.

[Muhittin]

[quote=Dave;36465] Up front we were isolated from most of the action behind us[/quote]

Thank you Dave for the report "NewsPaper" I've read it all:like:,,, however i would like just to add a tiny info.

By observing convoys, you will notice that the first wave of cars will wait the second wave (5-7 cars). but this does not lead that the second batch have less experience than the first. No, here we can blame the sand, since after five cars passing, the sand will be broken and will give more challenging to "the behind drivers" to climb the same dune, or passing particular area. and this might lead that who is driving in the second wave might have more experience since their rout is more difficult.

[Muhittin]

this video is for the same area:

[video=youtube;JE-Y7_g9UYQ][/video]

By the way,,, this video from Youtube, and mentioned that almost4x4 drivers,

[Dave]

Yes Muhittin, I do agree that sitting at the rear of the convoy does increase the workload somewhat but by offsetting your 4x4 just a few feet either side of the churned up tracks, especially during a slight climb where the track becomes rutted you eliminate most problems produced from being at the rare of the convoy. You will notice over time the advantages of being at either end of the convoy as the marshals do mix up positions. On some drives the second lead changes every 20 minutes or so giving everyone a chance to be up front or back!

From looking at your photos taken on this drive I believe the best experience was gained from being at the rare of the convoy as not only was the track more challenging but also many types of recovery were demonstrated. Any level of driver can get stuck but the important feat is being able to perform a safe recovery with your fellow drivers and returning home with minimal damage to car and driver!

As reported, this trip was challenging and a few cars did sustain damage, which will always happen over time as the desert is very unpredictable. However, as experience builds we can reduce this damage. A small investment in a skid plate and other forms of protection also helps the wallet over time!