All Stars - Limited Edition

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Loca
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Dear Almosters

we had a great drive for all Newbies arranged by [mention]baris[/mention] yesterday in Nahel area

Weather temperature is getting better and most of Almost4x4 Newbies didn't want to miss this event therefore we had something around 50 cars happily getting together at the meeting point thumbsup

It was nice to see [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention], [mention]Booy[/mention], [mention]Daggerfall[/mention], [mention]Rashidjass[/mention], [mention]presa[/mention], [mention]baris[/mention], [mention]Agalon[/mention], [mention]Scorpio[/mention], [mention]Issa[/mention] as always fully committed to deliver fun to all the Almosters in love

As per the plan we had 3 convoys: first one for 10+, second one for 5 to 10, third one for 5 and below. I was appointed as the sweeper in the last convoy where the lead was taken by [mention]baris[/mention]. 14 cars including [mention]optimus[/mention] and [mention]Mahmoodyasin[/mention] as Intermediates to support. Plus [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] and [mention]Issa[/mention] floating and [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] traveling across the time grin

Plan was to reach Nagra dune, one of the most famous landmark in the UAE Desert and come back.

@Baris started soft and progressively increased the speed up to very nice safari style in between the beautiful dunes of the area. All the drivers started to enjoy the increasing pace and some of them at the end of the convoy did enjoy a bit too much and to a point that [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] had to call for a stop to deliver an educational briefing wink
The danger was with drivers who rather than following the leader lines started to go 1 meter up with the cars behind doing the same, i.e. 1 meter after 1 meter and so on. The result was that cars at the back started to drive too high arches and take risks yuush

[mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] immediately realized the danger and by the briefing did put discipline and safety back in control thumbsup

The lesson he delivered is "when 2 cars are in a convoy the car at the front set safety to the car at the back" which means wrong behavior can put the following cars at risk

As planned, we reached the big dune of Nagra where from 10+ up drivers spent half an hour playing. I tested the performance of my Pajero and I was happy to see the spark plugs replacement fixed the power drop issues I had during last week drive thumbsup

The way back was nice, again safari style accompanied by a beautiful sun set. We regrouped with the other 2 convoys at the meeting point and tyre inflation was as usual the best time to chit chat and share experience

I really liked this drive as [mention]baris[/mention] managed to draw a line with no straight cresting. My compliments to the drivers who did an excellent job with close to no stucks and almost no need to put the viking rope in action grin

That's all folks .. this is how I lived the drive. Dear Newbies how was the experience for you? what did you like and what did you learn during yesterday drive? I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience ORLY

See you soon in the desert
ciao
Gianluca (aka Loca)
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mquadros
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I was in the 10+ convoy led by Presa. It was a very pleasant and smooth drive. I nice combination of arches, drops and some small side crests. The convoy was very smooth and a few times I needed to check if the radio was working fine given the "silence". As mentioned by Loca, we reached the beautiful Nagra area and played there for half- an hour. It was a very nice experience.

Last part of the drive was pleasant and we had the first recovery the day which required two vehicles (video posted in the Telegram).

Want to thank the organizers, marshals [mention]presa[/mention] , [mention]Booy[/mention] and Erkal and also the intermediaries who supported the drive.

Mquadros
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Fat Rabbit
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Hello Almosters,

This was a funnnnnnn drive. Thank you [mention]Barish[/mention] for organising the trip.

I was in the 10+ convoy led by [mention]presa[/mention], [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]Agalon[/mention] . Wonderful tracks and a great experience. No pop outs, no stucks (except for the one mentioned in the previous post by [mention]mpodroid[/mention] , I didnt know that happened). We had a few second tries in the really soft sand areas, but all self recovery.

[mention]presa[/mention] in the earlier drive (Magneto) took us to Nagra dune where only the intermediates played and we watched in jealousy. But in yesterday's drive, [mention]presa[/mention] took us up the dune to play. Oooooo cannot express my gratitude. It was soooo much fun and the tracks [mention]presa[/mention] made for us were very clean and safe for us to follow. We went in two convoys, the first led by [mention]presa[/mention] and the second by [mention]Booy[/mention] . This was because the bowl after climbing the dune didnt have space for all the vehicles to come in and safely stop. [mention]presa[/mention] gave us a briefing before we went up. The briefing was invaluable and gave me confidence to drive up this dune.

Towards the end of the drive, one of the vehicles got stuck. After self recovery, the driver could have just moved on and joined the convoy (around 50 metres away). But [mention]presa[/mention] made sure he went around and did a second attempt. I found this gesture really heart warming. Goes to show no matter what happens, take your time and experience everything the marshals want us to do to make our driving skills better. Thank you [mention]presa[/mention]

Thank you to the advance and intermediate drivers who supported us.

It was really nice to meet [mention]alshamsi[/mention] after a very long time.

Looking forward to the next drive.

Some pics from yesterday attached below.

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Last edited by Fat Rabbit on Sun Oct 06, 2019 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Where the road ends, the enjoyment begins..
With Natalie, a 2-door beige Nissan Patrol Safari
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Fat Rabbit
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One other thing I really appreciate in the club. When someone gets stuck, the marshals instruct the driver how to self recover in a very calming voice. This instils confidence in the driver to self recover the vehicle.

I have been with other groups/friends in the past, where instructions on the radio are in an excited voice which confuses the drivers more/makes them nervous.

A great big thank you to all the marshals, you guys do a really great job.
Where the road ends, the enjoyment begins..
With Natalie, a 2-door beige Nissan Patrol Safari
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AJ_88
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This was a special drive through and through, really enjoyed it - particularly as this was my first drive in almost 6 months (I know, I know - I feel dirty just typing that admission out, but wholly plan to make up for my absence over the winter!).

It was great seeing how many new faces have joined the club in the last two CMs, and I really enjoyed catching up with all the people who make driving with this club a pleasure.

I was also in the 10+ convoy led by [mention]presa[/mention], in 3rd position. The drive was full of nice, big arcs, occasional more technical driving in the soft sand, smooth side crests, and then the cherry on top - the beast that is the Naqra dune. I had to do a couple of second tries - but thankfully self-recovered both times.

I had the thrill of being 2nd lead for the Naqra dune part of the drive, and after two massive arcs on the main side of the dune, [mention]presa[/mention] took us up on the left side, where we then cut into a big bowl. The bowl soon got crowded, so those of us in the first group had to exit to allow a second batch of drivers to be led in. We had to re-route after the first exit attempt - which got no complaints from me as it meant I got to climb up to and drive on an awesome ridge - and [mention]presa[/mention] did a great job keeping things organised and safe as we exited despite how crowded the small space had gotten.

All in all, the drive was super smooth with minimal interruptions, and super balanced. Thanks [mention]presa[/mention] , [mention]Booy[/mention] , [mention]Agalon[/mention] and everyone who was supporting and participating for a fantastic drive. Until next time.

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Alexandar
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Another week in Swehian. This time we got to climb Nagrah blank .The drive had 50 cars that wanted to tackle swehian which is a testament by it self.

I was reaching the meeting point a bit late. On the way,I got the chance to catch up to Barish, Optimus & Shamsi. Also I saw little mcloud.

The meeting point was Al Ain Dairy Farms which was in the remote area of the desert. I thinking the security Guard of the farm must have thought that some rally was taking place. Quickly deflated & got to the Briefing. I was in presa & booy convoy who took charge of the 10+ newbies.

It was a fast drive as there was very few 2nd tries & just 1 recovery. Presa did mention that if there is a smooth flow he will increase the pace. The idea was as Loca said visit Nagrah & head back. We didn’t follow the same track as the other convoy’s as presa want to make it more challenging for us. Presa took on a good track with good high lines and some side cresting.

We had a raptor initially as second lead which was nice as it semi paved a road for us. Also fun to watch a big vehicle tackle the dunes.

When we reached Nagrah this time presa took us into the bowl on the left & getting out meant we had to take a spin around the bowl to gather momentum and climb up to get out. Was good rush. cool

After Nagrah the Marshall’s gave me a chance to be second lead. It was great to follow presa and to see what he was doing. Got to brush up my skills further. The area out was a good mix of technical dunes. There were some bowls that really tested our skills.

Thank you [mention]presa[/mention] for the lead [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]Agalon[/mention] for the support. [mention]Barish[/mention] thank you for organising the trip. And to the rest of the convoy for the company.

Till next time.

Alex
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Johanna
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Hi everyone,

this was the first time as far as I remember that Marshals brought fresh newbies to the Nahil/Sweihan area.
We had three newbie convoys, one for each newbie category (5-/5+/10+).
The last couple of drives I felt a slight lack of power in my car and after I got that fixed I was hoping to join the 10+ drive to test the power of the car.
I was assigned as sweeper for the 5+ convoy and turns out that I got some good opportunities to test the power of the patrol cool

[mention]Scorpio[/mention] was leading with [mention]Marcouss[/mention] as second lead, [mention]Gabor[/mention] as support in the middle and [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] and [mention]Abu Odai[/mention] floating around.

Soon after the start I had my first rescue, one car got stuck side ways on a slop. After self recovery failed, it was my task to pull the car very carefully and slowly while [mention]Gabor[/mention] and [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] were standing on the door steps.
This slop was a bit tricky, but all drivers managed to climb it succesfully thumbsup

While on the way to Nagra Dune, we faced the usual challenges, [mention]Scorpio[/mention] managed to find a safe but challenging track through the beautiful Sweihan dunes. I got the opportunity to do two more standard rescues when cars got stuck on straight crests. Most of the time the convoy drove smoothly, until we reached a crest with a steep climb and a sharp top.

The challenge at this dune was to have enough momentum to climb up, but reduce the speed at the top to avoid flying. We had a scary moment here with a car crossing way to fast and the car went airborne. The driver was lucky, the car landed safely on its four wheels O_O

After this drivers were instructed to be very careful at this crest. Its ok to get stuck (29 times) and so I got my chance to do "the train" One car got crested on top of the dune and [mention]Gabor[/mention] went for rescue. But as the sand was soft and the jeep is light, he got stuck too.
So it was my turn to pull both cars grin super cool rescue.

Shortly after this challenge we arrived at Nagra and had some time to enjoy this beautiful place. We left Nagra towards ne nearest gatch road and everyone reached the tarmac safe and sound and with a smile on the face.

[mention]Abu Odai[/mention] thanks for supporting the rescues and for the nice pics+vids
Good times fly by too fast and I cant wait to see you all in the sand on Friday again
BR, Johanna

If it excites you and scares you at the same time, it probably means you should do it.
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alshamsi_m
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Hello Everyone

The drive to meeting point was interesting, google was suggesting 3 routes to the detestation so I took the most obvious which lead me to offroad terrain so I started offroading even before the drive. to make it worse, before reaching the meeting point I got a call from [mention]Barish[/mention] that he has a technical issue with his can and he might come 10 min late. meanwhile , my google went crazy and lost it's way. I found that I had 5 cars behind me and we had our short convoy to the meeting point blank

I had the pleasure to be in [mention]Barish[/mention] convoy with [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] in support. The area looks totally different from last weekend where sand colors were darker and reddish in love .

The intermediate and advance drivers gave us a show on the Nagra Dune to show was the upcoming potential for our 5- future. thumbsup Before sunset our leader took us back to the final point with a nice breez before we leave back home.

Thanks [mention]Loca[/mention] & [mention]Issa[/mention] for the support , sorry [mention]Mahmoodyasin[/mention] for not giving you rescue training " OUR NEWBIES WERE GOOD".

Looking forward to see you all in the next drive. thumbsup

Cheers
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Daggerfall
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Hi Almosters,

It was another great afternoon in the desert.

The area picked by [mention]Barish[/mention] was beautiful and untouched (Its getting hard to find these days) and had everything to provide challenge for all levels from -5 to 10+.

I was with [mention]Scorpio[/mention] (Leading) , [mention]Abu Odai[/mention] (floating), [mention]Markouss[/mention] (Second Lead) , [mention]Gabor[/mention] helping rescue and our sweeper and "Rescue Queen" of the drive as she mentioned in her report was [mention]Johanna[/mention] . Thank you guys! Great Teamwork! thumbsup

Our leader provided us a nice track with many obstacles to test and develop our fresh Newbies's skills further. It was a good learning opportunity for our members.

After reaching Nagra considering the time remaining before the sun goes down, we decided to finish on the other side of the Sweihan and enjoy the sunset while driving to our exit point!

Some Notes For Our Newbie Members

* Communication is very important for your and other members safety so you need to make sure you can hear and understand the instructions all the time. If you have any issue with your radio or can't understand the instruction don't be shy to ask clarification or help. Otherwise you will be exposed to threats which informed by the Marshalls (Ditches, Bowls, Sharp crests etc.)

* At this level you are learning to make the correct judgement for the "right" momentum and speed and when I say "right" sometimes being slow can be dangerous as much as going fast so when you are doing angular climbs or arches on the wall if you feel you wont make it don't wait until you lost all your momentum and turn down immediately. Getting stuck on the wall sideways is very dangerous. Turn down and do it again with correct speed.

* We don't drive at D at the desert . If you drive at D your car will shift gear to 2nd and you will loose your momentum suddenly which gives you less reaction time to turn down and might be dangerous!

I hope it was a good learning experience for everyone and we will keep improving by correcting our mistakes (Which we all learned the same way)

Thanks to all organized , supported and participated and see you at the next adventure

Best Regards
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Scorpio
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Hello Everyone,

It was yet another great company this Friday afternoon.

As mentioned in the earlier trip reports, I lead 5+ convoy with supervising Marshal [mention]Daggerfall[/mention]. I had good support from the intermediates, [mention]Johanna[/mention], [mention]Gabor[/mention] and [mention]Markouss[/mention] and also had our advanced member [mention]Abu Odai[/mention] floating around the convoy.

The initial plan was to reach to naqra dune from Nahil and come back to finish at the same starting point however, we already had too much fun going to naqra grin that we changed the plan to end the drive in sweihan with the aim to take everyone out of the desert before sunset.

Those who have driven in this area now can easily understand the variety of the shape and size of the dunes there and the challenge that they can pose to any level of the drive arr.. After entering from the gate, we left the dirt track and went straight towards the dunes yuush. I got the call on the radio of the first stuck in the first 10 minutes which meant that the learning has started for the new skills. We had second tries and many stuck situations during the drive and intermediates got many opportunities to do the rescue training under the marshal guidance thumbsup. At one point, I had to inform Markouss to stop and don't come forward as I had entered into a bowl and there was no way to come out other than doing some intermediate stuff which obviously is not something that the 5+ convoy is trained on and should not get exposed to it without proper training. So, we changed the route and made our way around that bowl safely.

As we always say, getting stuck is not an issue, it just means that you are facing the challenge and trying to learn something new; jumping and flying should be avoided at all levels. At this level, you should be able to learn the technique of straight cresting the dunes. The optimum speed required could differ from one dune to the other in order to approach to its crest but the concept remains the same that you need NOT to fly you're kidding, right and keep the car under control. We took couple of breaks in between and reached naqra safe and sound. Since we did not have enough time left to return to nahil so, we decided to continue forward and play behind naqra and end the drive in sweihan. And it was the right decision at that time because we managed to reach to the sweihan exit just by the sunset.

It was a great afternoon with you all and hope you enjoyed the area and the drive.

Thank you Daggerfall for the guidance and intermediates and advanced for your great support.

Cheers
Scorpio
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