Desert Gazing - The Half Moon

[Mark B]

Someone commented at the inflation point that night drives as compared to morning drives, every one shows up early. This was the case this evening. Great socializing before the drive.

Great track @alshamsi_m. A great mix of technical and easy. I was in the first convoy. Let's call it convoy 1 or convoy A. The start was soft tight dunes. Our convoy had @Dave on our 6 (sweep), [MENTION=9783]Daggerfall[/MENTION] as second lead and @Hockey in the middle. The rest were made up of experienced Newbies and intermediates. The track was mostly down wind, so drops rather than climbs. Makes a night drive easier.

The track was divided into 2/3, 1/3, where the first part was getting to Al Nazwa, and the second getting to Pink Rock. We're we could and time allowing, we rushed the dunes right and left of the track. Few second try's and maybe one Viking rope pull. For most of the track the sand was very soft. I am proud of all the drivers in our convoy for making the passage so easy.

We were late getting through to Al Nazwa, so we put the hammer down, avoided (as much as possible) the bumper eating drops and made a record run to Pink Rock. Arrived at 12:20. When the other convoy arrived, let's call it convoy 2 or convoy B. Suhoor was served and great conversations were had. Party broke up at 2:00 and air up was at 2nd December.

Thanks all

Mark

[matts]

Morning Gents,

As Mark already said last nights drive was a game of 2 halves + extra time for a few of us

Almost everyone was on time and we set off in our usual punctual manner. Our convoy was led by Mark & Swept by Dave. The first half of the drive was full of little soft dunes and a convoy which was stretching in some places and like a traffic jam in others. This was mostly down to the nature of the dunes (This area being full of sharp steep ditches) but a little down to keeping the right distance.

After Nizwa the drive was much more enjoyable with Mark cutting an interesting and high paced track through to Pink Rock.

I think everyone drove well, the one point which was noted before the drive was that radio comms were a bit poor. There was only one person who called their own second round that I can remember during the main drive (apologies if others did but i didnt hear it). All the others were done by a following car. I know when you’re driving there is a lot to think about especially if you’re about to do a round but especially in the dark its important to call out quickly; I have found this is made much easier with a little headset but each person has to find what works for them.

Unfortunately as it was quite late I couldn’t stay for chitchat and decided to head directly out with Dave back towards Nizwa so we could use the air shop. This was also a fun little drive with bigger dunes and soft sand which caught us out in a couple of places. Anyway we made good progress, aired up and headed home.

Thanks all for a fun evening, no doubt everyone has picked up some new skills during these newbie night drives. See you all again in the daylight!

[wasimb2]

It was a super grand finale

after splitting the convoy into two @Mark B was leading convoy A and @alshamsi_m leading convoy B .i was in convoy B we start driving at 10.10 sharp

Few meters and we face the soft sand and the action start:playingsmiley:.

Since i was at the end of convoy i was enjoying watching recovery and self recovery till hamzahng jeep had problem with radiator .
bu salem decided to pull him to the flat area with Defragmantor in super recovery technic and @Abu Jimmy stay with @hamzahng to recover the car .

After regrouping the convoy i had a nice opportunity to drove as second leader behind al @alshamsi_m .
we use jeep jamboree track and the area was mixed between tecnical compact dune and soft sands we drove hassle free around 20 km to nazwa shop
where i decided to leave and the rest of convoy continue to sitting spot at pink rock .

At the end a would like to thank all the funders marshals members for the nice event

Best regards
Wassim

[Daggerfall]

Hi,

It was a lovely night.

I was in Convoy 1. Thanks to @Mark B for trusting me as a second lead.The track was nice, soft and full of sharp steep ditches where the FJs that not lifted with low a&d angles doesn't like much :) (Yes we love big dunes and speed unlike "slow" rock crawler Jeeps)

Some drivers prefer to drive only at specific type of dunes but I like to drive at different type of terrain.We need to learn to drive at all kind of desert terrain regardless of our likes and dislikes since you can find your self in the future entering an area with dunes different than you used to drive.

I was considering to stay for camp but I was tired and weather was too hot even with the breeze. So I decided to follow @Dave to the exit and it was like an extension to the drive . We should see him leading sometimes. Good leading . He literally gave info &tips for every dune we passed and it was fun :).

Hope we continue the night drives in the future.

Thanks to all

[Dave]

9:30pm meet just East of the Sevens Rugby stadium off the E77. More cars than I expected, over 20 at a guess. Mission was to reach Pink Rock via Nizwa at midnight. Smart move breaking the convoy into two groups by [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION]. [MENTION=9155]Mark B[/MENTION] lead the first convoy. We were 12 cars in total, with a mix of Newbie, Intermediate and Advance. I would guess 70% of the track was prior Nizwa, including a short stint on the small road leading into the village itself, then the remaining 30% on the other side of the Hatta road to Pink Rock.

Prior to Nizwa, the track was a mix of very easy flat terrain then sudden small but sharp crests. Hence, the pace was irregular and the convoy was either tightly grouped together causing a few second rounds due lack of distance from each other , then too much gaps into the high speed runs. All this was caused by the track and not the drivers. Personally I was happier when we crossed over into Pink Rock territory as the terrain was more consistent and there was no more power lines or pipe lines to navigate around. This is where the convoy worked best together and we dramatically picked up the pace, or put the hammer down as [MENTION=9155]Mark B[/MENTION] put it!

The initially track being long and inconsistent, we ran behind schedule reaching our destination later than planed. However, we were still ahead of the second convoy as I gather there was a mechanically issue with one of the 4x4's.

Some of us had a busy morning ahead so 5 cars returned to Nizwa unable to wait for the second group. I believe we missed out on some great food!

Overall, everyone did great. 12 cars was a big convoy but [MENTION=9155]Mark B[/MENTION] handled it well. Myself and [MENTION=3678]Hockey[/MENTION] had little to do which was great. I must apologise to the 4 guys following me out early as the track was certainly above Newbie level , and it was night time. But you really impressed me! Almost4x4 has thought you well!
[MENTION=9155]Mark B[/MENTION] was the star of the drive. A very committed club member and for sure potentially a well needed addition to the clubs upper ranks. And on the subject of potential future promotions from Newbie to Intermediate. Upgrades to suspension and protection should be considered. At higher levels the pace will be faster, and ditches bigger ! Invest wisely now and you'll save long term!

Thanks [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] for the invite, [MENTION=9155]Mark B[/MENTION] for the lead, and all the guys for your usual great company.

[Dave]

[URL="http://[IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image_zpsefgtywzc.jpeg[/IMG]"]http://[/URL][IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image_zpsefgtywzc.jpeg[/IMG]

[Dave]

[URL="http://[IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image_zpsimpzz3au.jpeg[/IMG]"]http://[/URL][IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image_zpsimpzz3au.jpeg[/IMG]

[dLemma]

Hi all,
I was part of convoy A, and it was a very nice drive from my end.
I think most has been said around the drive, so I would add only few points.

First, there where places where sand was soft, and I mean soooofffft! I was the last car in the convoy, right before @Dave the sweeper. @orlantsev was in front of me and on one drop, on the flat, he slowed a bit before going down. I softly (and I mean softly) touched the brakes to keep distance from him and my FJ literally sunk in the sand. I tried self recovery, but no way to move either front or back: I was flatten out on my belly. Since I managed to get my first stuck, @Dave had the honor to be the first one pulling my viking rope :) Thanks @Dave.

The other thing I learned is that my stock suspensions are way too soft. As soon I was increasing the pace, the car wasn't just able to cope with the terrain, so I had to slow down to avoid damaging the car.

After we reached to Pink Rock (thanks @Matt B for the great lead!) 6 cars including me decided to leave. And here we had a second round of fun :) @Dave led us, and I was again the last car of the mini convoy, swept by [MENTION=9649]matts[/MENTION] (I think).

Here the track was definitely not at newbie level, and being with a stock car allowed me to see the different reactions of the cars on the path.
The pace was fluid, not fast but not slow, and there were a lot of technical passes.

There were a couple of tricky ditches/cresting, and on one of them I hit really bad on my bash plate. It was a strong hit, to the point the thick plan is bended all over and will need a visit to almost4x4 garage to get back in shape! :) The engine rattled a bit for like 5 seconds or so, and I feared the smash had created some problems.

Luckily, the only damage was on the bash plate (that's the only addition I did to the car, and it paid back already ;) ) so we restarted and we ended up on the road like 10 mins later.

When we stopped at the tyre shop for inflating, @orlantsev was surprised to see that my bumper was still without a single crack, apparently after the path we followed he was expecting it to fall down :) @Dave commented that my bumper had only half the clearance of his and he advised to spare some money and invest in good suspensions. That's definitely something I will have to look after, but I will still drive for a few other months to better understand what I want out the car.

Overall, it was a very nice drive and post-drive, with few second tries/stucks, the usual great company of the almost4x4 family and the awareness that at every drive I'm learning something new.
Thanks to everyone and see you soon on the sand!

[matts]

Yep it was me! And yes that was one heck of a bounce you had, glad its only the bash plate i was worried for your radiator.

[Daggerfall]

Dear @dLemma

Good suspension is the first thing you should invest and you should do it at once if you are considering to drive at higher levels. You will make mistakes eventually or find yourself in a position you can not slow down and it will be there for you saving your car from drastic damages!.

The problem or lets say difference of FJ is it has IFS (Independent Front Suspension) The Jeeps has solid front axle which means the clearance between the ground and axle is fixed so they hardly hit their engine department when they have hard landing. But when you have IFS like FJ , the suspension will be compressed, the clearance between the bottom of the car and ground will decrease and you will smash your bash plate all the time. The bash plate alone should be the last resource to protect your car.

So a good suspension is more crucial for FJs

Regards