Part 2 – Afternoon Drive with BBQ on Friday 08/03/2013
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quote MHC:HI GUYS…DUE TO LAST MINUTE WORK TRAVEL…WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE IT FOR THE TRIP TOMORROW…HAVE FUN AND DRIVE SAFE!!!Thats a sad news Mehoob.. no probs, always there is next :-BD
quote MHC:HI GUYS…DUE TO LAST MINUTE WORK TRAVEL…WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE IT FOR THE TRIP TOMORROW…HAVE FUN AND DRIVE SAFE!!!No issues bro…wl make it up in the next drive…..Keep driving with DO…
Cheers
HI Guys…back on for the drive!!!…i guess u cannot fight destiny :drive: …see ya all soon…Mehboob
Lots of cars yesterday, it took 3 pictures to get them all! I had a good time, and it was nice to meet everyone.
Excellent Carl, welcome to the family of DO – sandbugs 🙂
Excellent Carl, welcome to the family of DO – sandbugs 🙂
Hi, Kumar, just want to say a big thanks to you for leading us into a very exciting, but challenging ( at least for a 2nd time driver like me) routes. We enjoyed so much! Also be so glad to meet other DOs as well.
:thanks: Ganesh for the excellent afternoon drive and great bbq, with great people and great food. Lesson learned for next desert bbq…BRING A SWEATER!!! 😀
Ganesh’s convoy: Approx. 32kms and 3.25 hours of high charged driving fun thru the desert around AlFaqaa
:yesss: A big thanks to all the Marshals, Task force members and all the senior members for organisation an excellent drive for us all. :ymhug:
All of us met in the afternoon, amazing line up of approx. 38 car which was divided in 3 convoys. After the exchange of greetings, we proceeded to the deflation point. After the assignation of each positions in the convoy, we hit the sands at 15:20 hrs and drove thru the excellent track chosen by Ganesh, that traversed thru tricky bowls, crests, side cresting, side slopes and finally concluded at the BBQ point.
It has been a pleasure driving with Ganesh, he seems to a fast pace driver and always appears to be running away as if being chased by a ghost or something, he was quick and I had tough time trying to keep up to his pace. It was a good drive where I could watch & learn the navigation skills he possess.A big thanks to Mathews and Andy for keeping all of us together and providing assistance to make this drive a fun and safe one. :ymapplause:
Hey Guyz…special thanx going out to Ganesh, Kumar and Mathew :thanks: for making the DAY safe and fun…had a good time with the famity onboard…(my daughter and niece just loved it)…looking forward to some more good times with DO family!!!
:thanks: Ganesh for a lovely ride at Al Faqa made even more memorable by my first sighting of a gazelle in the wild while dune bashing with my wife.
:thanks: Kumar for coming to get my guests from the ADNOC station to the bbq site and ensuring everything went smoothly. :thanks:
The family had a good time and convey their thanks as well. 🙂
:thanks: Tiger for making my first lesson in side sloping so enjoyable … Can’t wait for the next installment ! 😀
:thanks: Saif for the support at sweep
:thanks: Kash , Asif , Sami for another great afternoon spent with my dear friends.
At the outset, my gratitude to Hamza for the revamped site. It looks even more sleekier :)) :thanks:
March 8th : It was yet another wonderful drive to cherish. :thanks: Ashok ji , Paul ,Firoz , Brian , Humayun , Amjed and all friends.
With the excitement and heat catching up, the afternoon drive group met at the ADNOC Al Faqqa(Fagga) .
Thanks to Marshal Saif who had kindly sourced the Viking ropes and handing out the same to those who had requested. With the new line-of-hope in our trunk, all of us proceeded to the deflation point couple of meters ahead.
Since we were racing against the time,GK, Ashok,Ganesh gave a short briefing for the trip and then the 3 groups followed the respective Lead Marshals to pursue our passion , :drive:
I was part of Ashok ji’s convoy and we re-grouped our convoy as per the instructions meted out.
Ashok ji led us through some good grounds and personally for me, it was awesome .I felt like honing my skills .Could feel the confidence level going up while tackling dunes or side sloping and most importantly, self-recovering twice. I jog my memory back and couldnt help smiling because few weeks back, in similar situations ,I would have done all in ensuring to dig and dig #:-s My sincere thanks to Thanseer sb ,Humayun and Sanjay & Paul for drumming it very hard into my tiny head :ymdevil:
The drive was fun & proceeding smooth .It came to a halt at the first report of a pop-out. As the DO family tradition goes,the pop-out was fixed as quickly as possible and proceeded only to halt again for multiple pop-outs and a few stucks.
It was by sunset that we were reminded of the power of mother nature.
In an effort to take us through not-so-tough dunes, Ashok ji was scouting the area and unfortunately,got stuck. It was his presence of mind & quick clear instruction over the radio that saved the second lead Dhaval from not following suit .The convoy was halted for a brief period. While Ashok ji , Amjed, Firoz ,Paul & Humayun were working out recovery, a few minor stucks were reported as the convoy who were holding high ground decided to climb down a bit. :ymparty: :ymparty:
As soon as Ashok ji had pulled out, it was wee bit dark and weather was colder than anticipated .In order to ensure everyone’s safety in those conditions, he had paged for GK & Thanseer sb who were very prompt to arrive. In fact a short debate took place before their eventual arrival whether to split the convoy into multiple smaller groups sub-lead by the seniors but Ashok ji had pointed out the light factor ,the terrain and the tired condition of some of the members & their vehicle too.
There were multiple pop-outs while being static and mine, 2 tires had gone down to less than 8psi !! :(( Most of us rechecked once again and inflated quickly so as to not cause any further pop-outs :))
Under those circumstances, I feel that Ashok ji made the right judgement by paging for GK & Thanseer sb , his priority being only one “Safety of each member”( This is my personal opinion & please bear with me for this uncalled for opine/ if there is a different point of view)
Back to the lane, GK , Thanseer sb & Ashok ji surveyed the area and worked out the “safe” passage and thanks a ton goes to GK for driving our ” cars” from that tricky bowl to a safe ground.
Once a quick check was made on the presence of all the members ,we followed the lead on the track till a point where the group proceeding to the BBQ branched out and those who didnt want to be BBQd at home followed Humayun & Amjed who kindly escorted us to ADNOC.
Both were with us till we had inflated and said our goodbyes. Thanks Humayun :ymhug: Thanks Amjed :ymhug:I would say ,Overall it was a fantastic afternoon and a good drive . :-BD ^:)^
:thanks: :thanks: :thanks:
Task Force & Seniors : Please post this weeks drive ASAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
quote ksr226:At the outset, gratitude to Hamza for the revamped site. It looks even sleeker :)) :thanks:
March 8th : It was yet another wonderful drive to cherish. :thanks: Ashok ji , Paul ,Firoz , Brian , Humayun , Amjed and all friends.
Thanks to Marshal Saif who had kindly sourced the Viking ropes and handing out the same to those who had requested.
Since we were racing against time, GK, Ashok, Ganesh gave a short briefing for the trip and then the 3 groups followed the respective Lead Marshals to pursue our passion , :drive:
It was by sunset that we were reminded of the power of mother nature.
I would say ,Overall it was a fantastic afternoon and a good drive . :-BD ^:)^
:thanks: :thanks: :thanks:
Task Force & Seniors : Please post this weeks drive ASAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPSundar has made some good observations in his post, edited, above.
:thanks: to the The Task Force for this second :drive: of the day 😀
With the exception of a very few meters I didn’t actually drive this part of the days event, I did however participate and had the luxury of being able to enjoy the view & observe generally instead of being focused on the path ahead 🙂
This was a big convoy which started late, the ramifications of both these plus an exceptional number of possibly avoidable ‘pop-outs’ & ‘stucks’ led to the sun going down on the group with still quite a stretch to go before reaching the BBQ spot. 😕
The most tiring, most important job in a convoy is the one out front, leading :thanks: . Picking the way for others to follow. What is on the other side of a crest can’t be known until it’s been looked at, which means that the Lead Marshall puts himself in harms way for the greater good of the group. Marshall Ashok did this with true aplomb, :thanks:. Dhaval in his position as 2nd lead also did a good job keeping the head in touch with the body :ymapplause: 🙂
These were tight valley style dunes which meant that anything untoward in the middle of this long convoy had repercussions all the way back to the sweeps, hindering forward progress for the group as a whole and also making it difficult, occasionally, for ‘support’ to get to the aid of the vehicle(s) in difficulty easily.
As the night came and turned from dusk to dark a series of pop-outs and ‘stucks’ 😮 brought the convoy to an impasse. It’s in these circumstances that the true nature of a group comes out. Additional resources were called in to provide the security and safety that all participants in any DO desert adventure at this level of drive can be assured of :ymapplause:
Marshall’s Thanseer and Kumar were able to assist participants in self recovery and guide the body of the group away from difficulties in excess of the experience of the level of the group. Once the team had regrouped Marshall’s Ashok ,Thanseer, Kumar, Amjed & Humayun led everybody to exit, either back to the tarmac or on to the BBQ. David with his electric flag pole provided a beacon in the dark for all.Wow what a party: – a really lively DO village full of laughter and music with families having fun with other families, adults relaxing together against a star studded backdrop. Wonderful ambience 😀
HUGE :thanks: to Musbah for his generosity of the gifts & entertainment. :thanks: to Ganesh and St Paul for the amusing Master of Ceremonies.Events like these allow us all to get together, discuss & share a bit more than just the :drive: ing, just so with our leaders. On a rise above our little village the DO Task Force, led by founder Ahmad, could be seen in conclave undoubtedly planning future adventures for us all to enjoy :thanks:
JUST FOR FUN :thanks: 😀
A footnote to the BBQ, the following morning , the troops that stayed over toured the BBQ site and picked up quite a volume of trash, 6 sacks, left behind by the revellers =;
HEY EVERYBODY OUT THERE, BE RESPONSIBLE, YOU ARE NOT CHILDREN, LEAVE NOTHING BEHIND. CARRY OUT WHAT YOU CARRIED IN
The adventure ended the following morning with our departure from the BBQ /campsite when we said our goodbye’s to our fellow DO overnighters Ganesh, Sanjay, StPaul, Simon & Gabriel, his twin daughters and wife. :thanks: for the company c u you all again soon
😉
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