Liwa Marathon - Ocean Dunes
Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2021 3:18 pm
To make up for my absence during Intermediate drive I will be the first to write a trip report :)
I made a very ambitious plan to attend all three drives. At the time of registration it was still not 100% certain that my wife would come, so the plan was to join second family during long weekend. Wife came in the end and was convinced to join. There were lots of errands to finish on Thursday and work was a bit unpredictable, so after buying all camping essentials and setting up jerry cans on a new roof rack we realized it was too late and too tiring to drive to the first camping in the evening. Woke up at 4 am with enough time allowance to even join morning coffee at the camp. At the last petrol station met @Rooies who had all the coordinate pre-saved and followed him to the camping point.
The first day drive was organized for fresh newbies. As a sweeper I observed good convoy performance in the first hour or so, but towards noon mistakes started to happen here and there. They were mostly second tries, so nothing too dangerous. Around 2 pm one of the cars in convoy had a mechanical problem and after lunch it was decided to head for an exit via easier track. At the end of the drive those who were going to stay for the next day split - some went to refresh themselves at the petrol station while myself, @brett , @Rooies , @Sorin and @Rashidjass went in the direction of Madinat Zayed. When you drive Patrol location you soon know the locations of all petrol stations in country :)
We all had dinner at Madinat Zayed when we were joined by @alshamsi_m and @Victoria. The location for the second night came was familiar to me. It was late, and since all of our camping gear was knew we did not stay at campfire and proceeded to get organized for night rest. I was very happy with the tent from Decathlon made of dark material so you do not wake up at sunrise. After breakfast the convoy comprising of older newbies started to move towards famous yellow track. My GPS quickly showed me it was similar to the track I did in 2016. Compared to the day earlier the drive was much faster, with big drop and arches. During morning when my wife cooked breakfast I thought it was a good idea that she joined. Later in the day I started to search for @Phoenix marriage counseling techniques discussed in the chat few days earlier. I even had to reroute to avoid some bigger drops. When the convoy got to the truck it was shining with fresh paint. The tank was colored in UAE flag colours. Convoy flow was generally good, but some safer techniques during arches still need to be practiced. I took advice from @alshamsi_m on the use of gears to gain more height. When you can find a good distance to run up it makes a difference. When the convoy reached the dirt road we were called back as two cars had mechanical issues about 4 km from the road. The severity of the issue required a support from many people with advanced technical knowledge and some changes to the plan had to be made and we got to the road in smaller batches. It was already dark and my engine light came on in the last few km of the drive. The usual trick of disconnecting the battery did not help this time. Next camp location was some 1.5 hrs drive a way. As a result of this technical issue and fearful wife I decided to pull out from last day drive and we drove back to Dubai. It was still great two days. My only suggestion would be to allow a bit more time for evening camps. Sometimes some events might be outside of our control, but when all goes well I would have liked to eat all that chicken there and not at home for lunch today :)
I made a very ambitious plan to attend all three drives. At the time of registration it was still not 100% certain that my wife would come, so the plan was to join second family during long weekend. Wife came in the end and was convinced to join. There were lots of errands to finish on Thursday and work was a bit unpredictable, so after buying all camping essentials and setting up jerry cans on a new roof rack we realized it was too late and too tiring to drive to the first camping in the evening. Woke up at 4 am with enough time allowance to even join morning coffee at the camp. At the last petrol station met @Rooies who had all the coordinate pre-saved and followed him to the camping point.
The first day drive was organized for fresh newbies. As a sweeper I observed good convoy performance in the first hour or so, but towards noon mistakes started to happen here and there. They were mostly second tries, so nothing too dangerous. Around 2 pm one of the cars in convoy had a mechanical problem and after lunch it was decided to head for an exit via easier track. At the end of the drive those who were going to stay for the next day split - some went to refresh themselves at the petrol station while myself, @brett , @Rooies , @Sorin and @Rashidjass went in the direction of Madinat Zayed. When you drive Patrol location you soon know the locations of all petrol stations in country :)
We all had dinner at Madinat Zayed when we were joined by @alshamsi_m and @Victoria. The location for the second night came was familiar to me. It was late, and since all of our camping gear was knew we did not stay at campfire and proceeded to get organized for night rest. I was very happy with the tent from Decathlon made of dark material so you do not wake up at sunrise. After breakfast the convoy comprising of older newbies started to move towards famous yellow track. My GPS quickly showed me it was similar to the track I did in 2016. Compared to the day earlier the drive was much faster, with big drop and arches. During morning when my wife cooked breakfast I thought it was a good idea that she joined. Later in the day I started to search for @Phoenix marriage counseling techniques discussed in the chat few days earlier. I even had to reroute to avoid some bigger drops. When the convoy got to the truck it was shining with fresh paint. The tank was colored in UAE flag colours. Convoy flow was generally good, but some safer techniques during arches still need to be practiced. I took advice from @alshamsi_m on the use of gears to gain more height. When you can find a good distance to run up it makes a difference. When the convoy reached the dirt road we were called back as two cars had mechanical issues about 4 km from the road. The severity of the issue required a support from many people with advanced technical knowledge and some changes to the plan had to be made and we got to the road in smaller batches. It was already dark and my engine light came on in the last few km of the drive. The usual trick of disconnecting the battery did not help this time. Next camp location was some 1.5 hrs drive a way. As a result of this technical issue and fearful wife I decided to pull out from last day drive and we drove back to Dubai. It was still great two days. My only suggestion would be to allow a bit more time for evening camps. Sometimes some events might be outside of our control, but when all goes well I would have liked to eat all that chicken there and not at home for lunch today :)