The Desert Ghost’s Ditch

[Yoghybear]

Well, we met at 6am as scheduled and most of the drivers were on time :059:....just two were missing, we wait for additional 5 minutes but since they didn't inform us :035:we left.....First point of interest was Fida's ditch and as expected some stuck happened :005:This time was not so bad, in half an hour we were able to pass over it, (last time 2h :033: )The track was interesting, technical and speed, and sometimes the sand very tricky.We had some more minor stuck and some minor trouble, but the drive was good and smoothly, also the weather was not too bad, hot but not too hot and a bit windy, we drove to Camel Rock, to Al Faya where Intermediates and I play a little bit :021: Than unfortunatelly, on our way to Pink Rock and Big Red, something happened with Capri's car, reversing he hit the muffler and bended it ..... to be replaced *&@#$?+! ..... after that, when we reached the road just before Pink Rock, close to Dec2nd, Capri decided to leave, really a pity, btw we cover more or less 40 km :045:Also Strawb left and Gorgin asked me to lead the rest of to convoy to Big Red.... Of course my aswer was: yup, but easy track.......as you can immagine it was not so easy....when I switched on Tornado, the sand starded to run in my veins (again :024: ) and I decided to go for the same level, Newbies +....From Pink Rock to Big Red we drove a little bit more than 15 km, again technic and speed, we went over some big dune, everybody did a good job and after that straight to Big Red.I led the group than by easy track to Nazwa, inflate tyres and back home, shower and bed, Zorro and I were awake for more than 30hours.....he did a kart race in Al Ain (he won Heat 2! bravo! very well done)Zorro will post soon a video, I will recomend to watch the part regarding Fida's ditch, the driver was not following at all the istructions given by Capri and I, mine is not intended as a criticism, I just want you to understand that things happen when people do things by his own, without the right experience and not following more experienced drivers! this time luck was with us, next time she can be on vacation...= always listen to what marshals say :060:Thanks a lot Capri and thanks a lot to all drivers

[Gorgin4325]

What can I say? Another fantastic drive in Capriland brought back memories of my 3rd drive with Almost4x4 on Oct 14, 2011 where I experienced my first "holy s..." moment as we drove down the fossil rock...

Even thought Capriland was familiar territory, my excitement of driving prevented me from sleeping the night before. Got stuck once, as I'm sure everyone has seen the pictures thanks to Silvester, but thanks to Persian Beast and his American Beast I was out in no time.

The rest of the drive was interesting, a mixture of relatively easy dunes, and some sections where I felt sorry for the stock and unmodified cars. But overall the leader knew where to take the convoy so that even the least experienced drivers could go through at ease.

Overall, I couldn't have asked for more fun on an early Friday morning in Ramadan. Thanks Silvester for the great drive, Roberto for making sure nobody was left alone in the desert, and also for the second part of the drive, and thanks to all the drivers who made it on Friday. Thanks Persian Beast for being my "buddy" as we utilized the buddy system once again.

One more thing I like to mention is the great improvement that I and a couple of the senior guys witnessed in the driving skills of a few drivers, notably Bombays. I must be honest, there were times where I thought there is no way the Pajero will make it, but your great driving skills proved me once again that what Alshamsi always says is in fact true, that "it is not the car, its the driver"!!!

Thanks guys,
G

[bombays]

To start with, I was quite nervous as it was capriland and this was my first trip to capriland. I was awake the whole night asuming how challenging it would be. we met @ 6 sharp and were rolling in few minutes. we were briefed by capri that there will be buddy system. i was quite excited as who would be my buddy. Excitement ended with relief when i heard that fida is my buddy. soon we moved in sand and it was smooth but tricky. SPot # 1 ( guys u know it ) . got an opportunity to learn how to rescue. Awesome as this was the first time my VIKING was used for rescue. Crossed over Spot # 1 was too tensed as track was amazing with lots of Tricky dunes. We reached fossil rock. I realised that " Dude we have been here often but not on the track which we came today " I was still tensed as i never knew boundaries of capriland. When i shared the same thought with my buddy he said " Relax we are out of capriland " I was a bit relaxed but still was quite curious and excited as this was newbie's ++ Drive. you never know what's gonna happen next !. We were on way to camel rock and again the track was quite challenging. we reached a spot next to al fayaa dune. capri instructed to go around the dune one by one. I made it as this was my first experience to drive around dune of this height. I heard on radio capri saying experience the hit in stomach when u go down and come up the Dune. I tried and attempted that guys i got an amazing feeling in my stomach pretty much same as it was radioed. i did the same dune thrice. Quite excited . No words to explain the feeling.we then moved on.
We moved from al fayaa to badayer and exhaust of capri's pathfinder was damaged. Felt quite Bad about it. We then moved on after giving first aid to the exhaust. Later Capri and StrawB decided to move home. We were led by Yogybear and Convoy was sweeped by Georgin. Had amazing drive again. In all i feel we had great time this trip was one of my best trip with Almost 4x4.
I would like to thank our leading marshals silvester , Bu salem and all senior members of Almost 4x4 club for coming forward to teach us and share their knowledge and experience to us.Every trip of mine i was briefed by them for my improvement areas. They motivated me during my mistakes and infused confidence in me. I am blessed by god to have them as my teachers. Guys this is done WITHOUT ANY PERSONAL MOTIVE OR INTENTIONS. this is the best i like for ALMOST 4x4. They teach us to achieve perfection. which is ultimately for our own good. I have nothing more to say , GOD BLESS THEM , GOD BLESS US ALL.

[Big Red]

Awesome .... Looks like you had an awesome time :)

[bombays]

Yes indeed. Its was an wonderful experience. Especially the dune next to al fayaa.

[mathbin]

[quote=Yoghybear;14167] I will recomend to watch the part regarding Fida's ditch, the driver was not following at all the istructions given by Capri and I, mine is not intended as a criticism, I just want you to understand that things happen when people do things by his own, without the right experience and not following more experienced drivers! this time luck was with us, next time she can be on vacation...= always listen to what marshals say :060:Thanks a lot Capri and thanks a lot to all drivers[/quote]


It was certainly a bad day for me.... even after doing 8 drives with the club....i feel like iam back to sqaure one....

Started the day early with the intention to reach the meeting point before the scheduled time... but had to return all the way back 20km as i forgot my radio...
but somehow managed to reach on time .... thanks to "no radars on sharjah-kalba road".....

i dont know what was going thru my mind.......entered the sand just before the meeting point with 32 psi on my tires and got stuck right there....... :)
But i surely know what was going thru capri's mind then.... " this guy is definetly going to spoil my drive... " and i proved it.
anyways.... i ended up deflating 100m away from rest of the members... bad luck struck again....i deflated below 10 psi on one of my front tires..... had to take all the gadgets and fill it up again to 13psi.....

By the time the convoy started...i have done almost all the exercises one fine driver would do in an entire trip...

when the convoy started moving i was feeling like my mind is not in sync with my body..... and at fida's ditch..it turned out to be true...
i can still hear in my ears capri and yoghy shouting over the radio..."turn right....turn right...." but i keep turning left.......eventually ended up at the base...with capri radioing..."he is stuck for ever.." Thank god....i didnt roll over......

Before the recovery yoghy was telling me keep your steering towards right..... i entered the car with the intention to steer it right.....but still i do not know why i steered it towards left when the car was actualy pulled........resulted in draging the car a few meters right while keeping the steering left.....

Bad luck was behind me all the time during the drive.....jumping heavily....hitting the belly violenty....wrong approach angle and banging the dune almost head-on......

on the tarmac....atleast my car keeps following Capri's and yoghy's instruction and it always goes towards right....... and i still keep steering towards left......

thought it would be just an alignment problem...after checking it turned out to be something more than that.....needs to be taken to the showroom after the holidays....

Anyways....it was not my day.....left the sand with a broken heart and a damaged car......

[CAMEL]

[quote=mathbin;14219]
when the convoy started moving i was feeling like my mind is not in sync with my body..... and at fida's ditch..it turned out to be true...

Thank god....i didnt roll over......

[/quote]


My sincere advise to all the drivers, If One is not feeling good, whatever the reason may be, tiredness, Fatigue, Stress or any other such factors......on a particular day, It is always best to back off for the day and inform the marshals, I am sure the marshal and fellow drivers will understand. It is much better than getting into a unrecoverable situation.


I have experienced this very closely with some of my fellow drivers, also on my recent trip to Salalah....silly things can happen when one is not feeling 100%..... Doesn't have to be difficult dunes, it can be even on Tarmac!!

[Big Red]

Sorry to hear that mathbin, you have to make sure you are looking all around you to see all the ditches, dunes, bushes or any other obstacle that may lie in your way ... always keep in mind you need to keep you and car safe if you think you cant make it dont do it ... stop and ask if needs be .... also what camel said is very true. Fatigue plays an important view in my job and i realise even when not at work it can be dangerous. Main point listen to people with more experience but dont compromise on safety ... hope your car isnt too badly damaged