Race the Sun – Friday Morning, Feb 6th 2015
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The objective of the drive is to reach Sweihan before the Sun. However, the bigger objective will be to have some fun 😀 . Enroute to our destination we will take on large and small dunes with varying sand texture and colour and indulge in a lot of side sloping, side/vertical cresting, some drops, some slip faces and negotiate some vicious ridges along the way. We will hopefully spot gazelles and enjoy panaromic views from the “Lonely Hill”.
Due to the nature of the terrain and the length of our intended route(approx 50 kms, +/- 5 kms), the convoy will be restricted to a maximum of 9 members including the lead and sweep. Exceptions will only be made for Marshals. The first 7 member registrations will form the convoy.
Meeting Point : Will be provided via PM to selected participants on Thursday.
Meeting Time : 07:30Hrs.
Drive Start: 07:45 Hrs.
Drive Route: The compass point towards Sweihan.
Drive Terrain: Sand.
Duration: 3:30 – 4:00 hours approx. Anything more and the sun will beat us.Checklist:-
a) Ensure your 4 x 4 vehicle is in perfect condition and with enough fuel.
b) Carry an auto air compressor with you and ensure it’s in working condition.
b) Compatible Radio is mandatory
c) Carry all necessary offroad gears, in good condition.
d) Carry enough water / refreshments / re-hydration drinks for self & co-passenger(s).
e) Please ensure that your vehicle’s Fuel Tank is fullPlease read the following and register for the drive:-
Equipments that one needs to carry for offroading
Rules Of The Trip
Dubai Offroaders – DisclaimerSajid
0505525709
Afro… and the other early risers – where are you? 😉
:drive:
Guys. Hate to say this but m really sorry as I have to back out from this drive due to some very urgent work that has come up for tomorrow morning. I am currently tentative just incase I manage to find a way out for tomorrow. Really wanna drive tomoro.
quote duli:Guys. Hate to say this but m really sorry as I have to back out from this drive due to some very urgent work that has come up for tomorrow morning. I am currently tentative just incase I manage to find a way out for tomorrow. Really wanna drive tomoro.No worries Duli. We will be happy if you can make it.
Marshal Sajid, when is the Meeting Point will be sent to us ?
thank you
Bahaa
quote Bahaa999:Marshal Sajid, when is the Meeting Point will be sent to us ?thank you
Bahaa
By 3:00 p.m today. In Shaa Allah
quote Saj:quote duli:Guys. Hate to say this but m really sorry as I have to back out from this drive due to some very urgent work that has come up for tomorrow morning. I am currently tentative just incase I manage to find a way out for tomorrow. Really wanna drive tomoro.No worries Duli. We will be happy if you can make it.
Saj. Will there be a possibility of having exits in between in case I have to leave early?
quote duli:quote Saj:quote duli:Guys. Hate to say this but m really sorry as I have to back out from this drive due to some very urgent work that has come up for tomorrow morning. I am currently tentative just incase I manage to find a way out for tomorrow. Really wanna drive tomoro.No worries Duli. We will be happy if you can make it.
Saj. Will there be a possibility of having exits in between in case I have to leave early?
Yes Duli. You could take a gatch and exit if the need arises.
PM sent to the registered members. See you tomorrow 🙂 .
quote Saj:PM sent to the registered members. See you tomorrow 🙂 .:thanks: 😀
A foggy start to the morning and the drive to the meeting point was so peaceful that it made me wonder why I stopped my morning drives 😕 .
Anyways, back to the drive and I had a bad start as soon as we hit the sand due to two reasons, one was forgetting to engage my 4WD and the second is sad as the area was being prepared for some construction I assume, and a lot of soft sand was piled up near the entrance point. It is heartbreaking to see commercialization and industrialization hitting the beautiful deserts of the UAE, including Sweihan and Liwa 🙁 . This area hardly had any settlements two years ago.
It was a seven car convoy with Bahaa in second lead, followed by Philip, Afraaz, Duli, Saif and Suri. We were lucky to have two of the best recovery specialists(Saif and the old DO member, Suri) with us on this drive and Suri in particular being a self recovery fanatic 😉 , demonstrated his skills on two occasions where I was stuck. In any other situation, we would have given up but he was determined and never gave up. The second self-recovery was very amusing and a bit scary :-ss at the same time and hats off to him for egging me on :ymapplause: .
We had plenty of opportunities to side slope, side crest and enjoy some lovely views 😀 . At one point in time during our drive, we were covered in fog which made leading extremely difficult but we managed to pull through and the fog cleared soon after.
Inspite of losing time in self recoveries, we manage to complete the track(51 kms) in three and a half hours.
Everyone drove well and mostly we had a pleasant drive. I must have spotted atleast 10 gazelles :yesss: .
Thank you to everyone for joining and special thanks to Saif and Suri for watching our back :thanks: .
I will upload the track and it will be nice to hear from the rest of the team.
It was another great fast drive with a smaller convoy than we usually see in the afternoons. We all met nice and early and set off in time. As saj mentioned we hit a few patches of sand that required “self recovery” #:-s … a great skill Btw – guessing that all too often we are too quick to just snatch! I have added 3 videos on the DO Facebook showing one of the recoveries, with Bahaa getting a rather nice sand shower! …. 😉
:thanks: to Saj for leading and the great trip review, the “self recovery expert” for the live demonstration and the other members for another fantastic outing 😀
Sorry for the late report 🙂
It was a very nice, long and foggy morning drive to the meeting point. Felt very relaxed even though had to wake up early. i-)
We all gathered at the meeting point and the convoy allocations were done. Off we set without wasting any time.
Started off by driving thru some camel farms and finally hit the sands… The camels looked like the also had number plates on them because of their numbers sprayed on their necks 😀
The drive was almost 85 – 90% side sloping, which kept us all alert thru out the drive.
During the drive we encountered a sudden cover of fog which reduced the visibility drastically. Hats off to Saj, who kept the drive on and lead the way in this condition.
2 self recoveries as mentioned in the previous posts. The second recovery was a funny but scary one. In the end it was a recovery executed successfully.
Thank you Saj for the drive and all other participating members for a great morning.
Looking forward to more of the morning drives.
Tc n stay safe till then.
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