First Minutes in a Desert

User avatar
caprihorse
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:23 am
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
Been thanked: 3 times
Contact:

“Darling, what’s your plan for next Friday?” – Asks a proud owner of a brand new hi-tech loaded 4x4 off-road desert car, his wife, at the beginning of week.
“Nothing special.” – She replies, curious about unusual question from her husband at this time of the week.
She is digging more, to get the details.
“What’s your idea? Do you have anything specific on your mind?” – Her growing expectations don’t let her to stop asking.
“As we have now a new off-road advanced latest model, we could drive to the desert with some friends, to have a great fun for you and our kids, to explore country most exciting nature.” – He replies calmly, throwing his bite of the sea of thrill and excitement to her, nothing knowing about desert, innocent and lovely wife.
She agrees smiling, in the moment not expecting anything wrong.
‘Great! We got it’ – thinks proud owner of a brand new hi-tech loaded 4x4 off-road desert car and is starting to organize the trip. Calling his friends, convincing, touching adventurous feeling of his buddies and the trip is organized.

Buying the supplies, soft drinks, chips, water, simply a plenty of food, in the case somebody might be starving on this few hours lasting trip. He heard all the advices, he knows that liquid and food is very important in the desert. Getting the rope, booster cables, pressure gauge and similar gadgets from the nearest supermarket.

Finally the convoy for the desert, is settled, all friends feel the same excitement as he is, he thinks. They have been already once in the desert, perfectly challenging all the high dunes, he assumes.

The Day “D” is here. Early in the morning he is checking the car from outside, if there is everything at its place, not opening the booth. Why should I??
‘Great, I’m ready’, he thinks.

After the light lunch, the whole family, wife and kids and of a brand new hi-tech loaded 4x4 off-road desert car, is moving towards the challenging desert in the late afternoon. Greeting his buddies, at the deflation point, the family responsible driver is taking his pressure gauge, acquired earlier from the nearest supermarket, and deflating tyres. 15 is the magic number, what he heard earlier, forgetting to ask which units. His tyre pressure is for sure somewhere completely wrong for the desert or the tarmac.
The kids are getting their soft drinks and chips, seating belts fastening on rear seats and let’s go, to the first dune, not that high, maybe just 2 metres, 500 metres far away. ‘Piece of cake’, he thinks.

First few minutes of the drive over the sand, the adrenaline level and blood pressure is rising. ‘It is really different, as I saw it from tarmac’, he thinks. The car’s engine sings nice well known song similar to the birds in a spring and all hi-tech instrumentation playing the game. Driving further, the first grass appears under the left front wheel. The front suspension jumps unexpectedly, as the grass in the sand is hard as the rock. It wakes up the attention of the newbie, as he marks also the worrying flash from her wife’s left eye. ‘OK, let’s avoid this as next, little tricky bastards’, he thinks. In next minute, a small few inches deep, short hole appears again just below the wheels, where it shouldn’t be it at all. The front suspension screams, the rear as well, as he is too fast to brake and the car jumps up and down, the wheels touching the body, the kids and the wife touching the roof. The well cooled and sweet soft drinks are on the seats and the tasty chips all over the car.
“Oops, sorry” – shouts the newbie, trying to get back the control of his car. The worrying flash in the left eye is sharper.

Experiencing the latest faux pas, the innocent little dune is coming closer. All the buddies are just behind it, so not to make the roof jump again, let’s go for it very accurately. With moderate speed, the front of the car is moving up, what a beautiful view to the sky. He does not see anything else as the sky, he does not know where he is driving, so automatically, without any alarm, his right foot, hits the brakes. At the wrong moment. The brand new hi-tech loaded 4x4 off-road desert car is sitting on the top of the edge, all 4 wheels smoothly rotating in the air. Enjoying his buddies bright smiling faces, he gets out of his car, calmly saying – “It’s a fun”. ‘No prob, I have the rope, somebody pulls me out’, he thinks. Grabbing his new foiled rope from the booth and bringing it to sunlight, not knowing anything about rope’s load, he is trying to find the place, where to hook this thing. Going around the car several times, trying to find the towing point below his front bumper with the help of his friends, finally he hooks the rope, where it belongs.
“OK, let’s go”, the pulling car jerks and his brand new, just unfolded rope from the nearest supermarket flies like a canon shot in the air, hitting by luck just the sand, not any buddies around.

Somebody, more experienced, is bringing his load approved rope and the car gets out, approaching next nasty tricky 2m high sand dune. ‘OK, not to repeat the same trouble, do not slow down, just go over the top’, he thinks. Simple as said, climb up, not brake, get down, but this time, the tricky nasty dune is a bit different, the edge is little bit more sharp, the other side more steep and again he sees nothing except the sky. The car flies over the edge, front of the bumper hits the sand and makes the bumper ears to the side. The front suspension screams, the rear as well, as he is too fast to brake and the car jumps up and down, the wheels touching the body, the kids and the wife touching the roof. The well cooled and sweet soft drinks are on the seats and the tasty chips all over the car. The same situation, as the few minutes before, the car is sitting on the bumpers, the wheels again silently rotating in the air. But now the worrying flash from the left eye is extremely sharp.

The car is stuck again, buddies going around, advising to use shovel, rope or levitation. After an hour of shovelling and pulling, the car is finally free out of the trouble.

The sun is coming down, all the desert visitors starting their BBQ fires and enjoying the desert evening. What a nice drive, just few hundreds metres from the tarmac.

Later, at home, the newbie, in a smart way is apologizing to his family for the mishap. “I promise the next time we’ll drive with somebody who is more experienced and knows all the tricks and guide us, to have a real fun at driving in the desert.” – Hiding the high blood pressure, mixed with petrol, still flowing through his newbie veines.
googloid
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2011 11:26 pm

Very sweet read! Under estimating the desert is one of the worst thing anyone can do (let alone a newbie).... It just doesnt hesitate to come right back and bite you.

I especially liked - "hiding the blood pressure mixed with petrol still flowing through his newbie vains".... LOL
Hamdan
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:40 pm

Very Nice :057:
Duck Commander
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:09 pm

hahahaha, I WILL SHARE MY STORY......
IT WAS 2005, DONT REMEMBER THE EXACT MONTH, MY FRIEND BOUGHT A NISSAN PATHFINDER. ON FRIDAY ME AND 3 OF OUR FRIENDS WENT OFFROAD ( MEAN 500 METER FROM TARMAC) SIT THERE STARTED CHATTING AND EATING SOME FAST FOOD WE HAD.
IT WAS CLOUDY AND THE SUN WAS NEAR TO DISAPPEAR, SUDDENLY MY ONE FRIEND WHO IS ALSO HERE ON THE FORUM STOOD UP AND CONVINCED THE OWNER OF THE CAR TO GO TO SOFT SAND, AS HE KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT DRIVING ON SAND AND THE REASON FOR THIS CONFIDENCE WAS .....HE HAD A FRIEND WHO WAS PROFESSIONAL DESERT DRIVER AND GAVE HIM SOME TIPS ABOUT OFFROADING.
SO WE STARTED AND OFFROAD FOR 3 MINUTES. AND CLIMBED 2 METER SAND DUNE. THEN SUDDENLY SOMETHING CAME TO MY INSTRUCTOR FRIEND MIND AND HE STOPED JUST AT THE TOP OF THE DUNE AND STARTED GIVING US THE DEMONSTRATION HOW TO DRIVE ON SAND AND WHAT TO DO WHEN GET STUCK.
AFTER GIVING US THE THEORICAL AND VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS, HE SDDENLY NOTICED THAT THE PRACTICAL PART IS MISSING..... SO WHILE STANDING STILL ON THE LEVEL SAND HE START ROTATING THE STEERING CLOCK AND ANTI CLOCKWISE AND KEEP TALKING,,,,,, WHEN U R STUCK DONT KEEP THE STEERING STILL BUT MOVE HERE AND THERE AND GIVE ACCELARATION. AAS HE WAS PRACTISING THIS OUR POOR PATHFINDER WAS SINKING DEEP AND DEEP BUT HE CONTINUED TO KEEP DEMONSTRATING TO US AND AT THE END HE CAME OUR OF THE CAR AND ANNOUNCE THAT WE ARE STUCKED,HAHAHAHA.

NOW CAME THE HARDEST PART HOW TO RESCUE OUR CAR, AFTER HOURS OF STRUGGLING WE DID NOTHING. HAVING NO NAVIGATOR NO WALKIE TALKIE, MY OFFROADER FRIEND WENT TO THE ROAD AND CALLED HIS DESERT SAFARI DRIVER FRIEND TO COME AND RESCUE US....
AT THE END HE CAME WITH HIS LANDCRUISER AND GOT US TO THE TARMIC.....
BUT IT WAS 10PM AND WE WERE STUCKED FOR MORE THAN 6 HOURS.....
lamboo
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 0
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 2:58 pm

nice,,,thanx caprihorse:045::045:
User avatar
caprihorse
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:23 am
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
Been thanked: 3 times
Contact:

Yeah, Shafiq, nice experience you had, really. This happens all the time, when 'drivers' don't understand much. Once I was pulling a Jeep, next to Kalba road, maybe 2 metres offroad, from the tarmac around 9pm. He was sitting upto axes in sand and his buddies were trying to get in the same powder to help him, without deflating their tyres. (Why? It's so close to the road...) I saw and heard nothing else as screaming and panicking and lots of stress around. I got him out, but others were eyeing like Alice in Wonderland. At the stress situation it didn't come to their mind to tight two ropes and use tarmac for better grip...
Duck Commander
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:09 pm

Hahahaha, marshal thats why i am keeping 2 ropes with me in case tarmac is nearby hehehe.
Indy
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 0
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:30 am

haha..thanks for sharing the experience.
Hassan
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:25 pm

shafiq: I am the only old friend of yours who is also on th forum,so you could have mention my name..........WE LEARN WITH OUR MISTAKES........ by the way Nice story capri
User avatar
caprihorse
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:23 am
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
Been thanked: 3 times
Contact:

"MY ONE FRIEND WHO IS ALSO HERE ON THE FORUM STOOD " - Hassan, is it you? Why so shy? Share with us more some more stories :011:
Post Reply