Desert Gazing - Survive The Night

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone

Here we go, The new 8+ newbies got the pleasure to visit places that even the Explorers never been. There are hidden gems in every country that you drive by them without noticing but with expertise of pur club you are not going to miss anything

We drove from the Central of Sharjah desert to the beach between Umm Al Quawain and Ras Khaimah. Pass through tunnels, forest and the Union Train track too.

Also we had the chance to challenge some dunes and even named one as @brett's Climb

I am going stop the report in here to give the chance for the other members to express them selves but before I leave I would like to thank @ALKHATIB for joining us, @Barish AKA The General " for flouting around and making sure that everyone is safe , @optimus & @rapailo for making sure that no one left behind.

Special thanks to @PedroLeal for the BBQ and I promise that I will eat from your grill in The Grand Iftar


Looking forward to see you in the sand

Cheers
Shamsi

[Ehab]

Hi almosters, i drive at night many times in desert but this is my first time with my beloved club. Amazing drive, sand, quarry, forest, beach and crossing mining sites all in one trip not only that, many climbs were done which increased the adrenaline level to the max specially when you only see the half moon.

Very well organized and well taken car of. Almost4x4 club is the best in town no question.

Enjoy watching

[brett]

Dear Almosters,

I took part in Desert Gazing series last year, and it was great, so I was looking forward to the 2022 edition to start. Last year was in the Jeep with only about 8 drives under my belt.

This year was very different having logged a lot more drives and gained a lot of experience since those early days, and the added FJ factor .

I was first to arrive at the entry point, while setting the GPS point for the deflate area I was joined by @osman, we headed off with Osman leading, after a few missed turns we managed to hit the spot, well actually we drove a few meters passed the spot, by which time @PedroLeal had appeared and quickly hit the spot exactly at the marked tree. Eventually we all assembled at the meeting point and the attendance was taken, lots of now many familiar faces and some newer ones. it was to be a large convoy.

I found myself somewhere towards the end of the convoy with @alshamsi_m leading @Mohanad in 2nd lead, then it was to be 2 newbies 1 intermeadiate in sequence with @osman as sweeper. The Field Commander extraordinaire @Barish floating around (he is everywhere) @rapailo floating to mention a few. @KIMOz and @CARLOSS were scattered within the convoy.

As promised it was a fairly straightforward drive with a lot of track driving a few smallish dunes and technical areas and the unexpected places like the quarry and the forest section. Through underpasses and even some highway sections. The areas to the sides of our planned track were rather tricky with ditches and extreme soft patches - as some of the floaters were to find out very early on in the drive. a fantastic drive and a reasonably good flow with the expected 2nd tries and a couple of stuck cars. The biggest challenge (for us further back in the convoy) was the ever present dust clouds, at times making it almost impossible to see the car in front only 20 - 30m ahead. This gave me the perfect opportunity to try out my new "Yellow" off-road lights I was impressed with their performance in the dust, helping to make it a little easier to see - but even so 110% concentration was required.

The Climbs !
Doing these climbs in the dark is a drive highlight for me, and on this drive we had a number of very nice climbs to conquer. I am honored that one climb was named Brett's Climb, thankfully I managed the climb with relative ease - I didn't kangaroo bounce on the climb, fly over the top or get crested, a few of the traits that I have previously been very good at !!

I have now completed quite a number of sets of 10 drives and although being slow to learn the basics I feel the persistence and practice is paying off. my confidence is growing and I seem to have finally got the FJ set up in a way that suits my driving style. no hard bumps on decent, no kangarooing, no bottoming out of the suspension, no tires rubbing on the wheel arch on hard turn's. I feel more at ease behind the wheel.

My advise to my fellow Newbies - keep coming on drives - listen to the marshals, observe the other more experienced drivers, for some of us (me) that learning curve is longer than some but it is not a race it is about personal development at the correct pace for the individual.

The club is about inclusiveness and equality, respect and guidance, tolerance and patients (the marshals have shown lots of patients with me )

A big shout out @alshamsi_m for organizing this drive during Ramadan, to all that took part including but not limited to (sorry if I miss anyone) @Barish @rapailo @optimus @ALKHATIB @KIMOz @Osman @Flor @CARLOSS @Adonisalsissi @SomayaJk @AntonT @piotr @AZK89 The Media crew @mpodroid @nidal78 @Ehab

Another highlight of the night - gathering on the top of the dune at the end of the drive to enjoy food, drinks and an unlimited number of stories - some were even true ! until the early hours of the morning. 80km drive was full of adventure. I only reached home at 3:30am.

One last thing before I sign off - if you have the opportunity to join higher level drives as a passenger jump at the chance, it helps to learn and gives you a whole different prospective on the skills required to master this amazing sport.

Ramadan Kareem.
See you all at the Grand Iftar event next weekend

[CARLOSS]

Hi everyone!

Desert Gazing “Survive the Night” was a lovely drive as it reminded me all the time the first night drive I did last year…actually, it was a short of a clone drive of Desert Gazing “The Dunes have eyes” with a bit more millage (55Km vs 74Km). Pls check the tracks below if you don’t believe me
At that time, I was within @Booy convoy (oh man, you are missed a lot …pls visit us soon) and all was new: The shadows, the trees, the dust, the crawlers, the ending point in the mangroves…an amazing experience.

This time, it was also outstanding and not only because of the beauty of the drive but because of the nice memories brought…and I had also the opportunity to drive again along with my lovely wife @Flor coming from a long break which it was also quite special. What else can I ask for?

Time flies and in only a year it is incredible how much I was able to grow as an off-roader and the many friends I made in between thanks to the Club. And forgot to mention the progress made in the off-road lights’ set up!

And talking about off-roads lights, I have never seen before this amazing lights’ show…in the front of the convoy whenever we needed to stop, I spent some time looking at them and it was spectacular, like a disco! I was only missing the music to start dancing…

All in all, a night to remember…let’s see how next year looks like.

Thanks @alshamsi_m for organizing and leading and @ALKHATIB , @Barish , @optimus and @rapailo for taking care of us. And my mates for driving safely.

See you soon at night.
Carlos

[PedroLeal]

Hello Almosters,

the drive name was "Desert Gazing - Survive The Night", but the best fit should be "Survive the dust" given the amount of dust we got.

I arrived the marked location and was immediately followed by @brett , @osman and @KIMOz .
Soon, all others started to arrive and there was plenty of time for deflation and chit-chat.
The attendance was taken and the single convoy order was defined: @alshamsi_m in the lead, @mohannad as 2nd lead and @osman as the sweeper. Floating we had our everywhere general @Barish , @ALKHATIB , @optimus and @rapailo supporting and ensuring the safety of the convoy. Our interm drivers were spread in between every 2 newbies to help keeping the right distance and pace.

The drive briefing was long, as it was the drive itself, with nearly 80km completed.
It was a beautiful drive with a lot of different scenes along the way. Most of the time we drove on a track, but we crossed a quarry, a forest, a few climbs and drops, some tunnel under passes, etc.

The drive wasn't difficult if we were driving under daylight, but the night darkness changes everything...
Small ditches turn into big ditches, small climbs turn into big climbs, and the dust... Have I mentioned the dust?!?!
There were some 2nd tries, mostly due to some unexpected ditches that were harder to see, and due to some lack of momentum climbing some hills, again due to the extra difficulty in seeing the climb clearly and judge the right algle and speed.
I just found the hard way that my white offroad lights are not fit for the night drives if I'm driving in a convoy, as the dust reflection completely blinds me off.
I drove most of the time with the front lights switched off, with the side light pods turned on for spacial awareness.
Definitely I'll have to change to yellow lights, as their wavelenght breakthrough the dust much better.

At the end, came one of my favorite moments of our Almost 4x4 drives, where we sat and shared food and beverages and some funny and interesting stories.

Ending a drive with our club, immediately makes me think about when the next drive will be, so I guess this is a sign of addiction to the club and their drives!
It is just me, or is there anyone out there with these kind of symptoms?

At last, I'd like to thank the drive organisers for the time and effort they have put in this drive, specially @alshamsi_m that even got a fine while scouting this trip...

I hope to see you all soon in our Grand Iftar!

Ramadan Kareem

[osman]

Hi,

Being thirsty for a night drive, I left home quite early and I saw even thirstier @brett at the entry point. We then drove to the meeting point together. In due course , I made few wrong turns to smaller tracks referencing to the GPS waypoint data only. This was my second similar mistake, not using google maps (shows and guides sometimes even barely recognizable tracks) which would had brought me to the meeting point.

After the briefing, we started to move. I was at the back, doing the sweeping job and tasting being blind and drive. @Barish was again working hard to make sure the convoy is driving safely, his radio was busy all the time, he was driving at the left, at the right, at the back, at the front, in the middle.

We had a mixture of the terrain, including some climbs that made them in the night challenging but sure full of fun. Most of us sit down and had some chitchat and shared food after the drive somewhere close to the sea and a well known shopping destination. I reached home at 4AM and got into bed not to bother to take a shower and looking forward the next night drive that is 17 hours away.

Thanks @alshamsi_m for organizing and leading yet another memorable drive.

[AZK89]

Hello ,

It was amazing day , its first time in my life Driving in the desert at night with best club .

I learned how to drive at night in the desert, pay attention, focus and climb heights. It was a special day for me to break the barrier of fear of climbing heights. The organization was beautiful and the feeling of encouragement to continue for more driving and safety measures from beginning to end and feeling comfortable.

Beautiful night with :

@alshamsi_m @mohannad @osman @Barish
@ALKHATIB @optimus
@rapailo
@brett

See you soon

[nidal78]

Hi everyone
First of all I would like to thank @alshamsi_m for organizing this amazing adventure
This was my first night drive with the club
Last year I couldn’t join because I had only 5 drives under my belt, so I was too excited for this drive
We started with a brief by Shamsi about our adventure, he mentioned that we are going to drive for around 80km and we will see a lot of beautiful landscape, mountains, farms and forest ( yes I discovered that we have them in UAE )
After the briefing we lined up in a long convoy of 23 cars with all off-road lights on it was an amazing view
I will let my video speaks about it
We did some nice climbs in one of them I did 2 tries to make it because it was super soft sand on the top of the climb and less space to get the good momentum for my heavy GMC
At the end I would like to thank Abu Salim again for this great adventure, very big thanks to our guardian Barish, Optimus, Rapailo and Al Khatib and to the support team as well
Till next time stay safe and see you soon on sand

[piotr]

The Ramadan night drives with the club are always special, it was no different this time round. Last year I managed to join all 4, hope to complete the list this year as well ;) But what a difference a year makes, in terms of confidence driving offroad, understanding of the convoy flow and now being firmly part of the Almost family.

@alshamsi_m took a special twist this time around, leading the convoy over some paths-never driven. We were treated to a visit into a quarry, driven through a haunted(?) forests with Donkey (?) traps (did not see that one!), under a railway, past some little nasty speed cameras, A4x4-named climbs, under- and over-passes, to end up on a lovely dune next to the sea in Umm Al Qwain.

Watching such a large convoy move with all the lights is something special. The Marshals and explorers zooming around over some impossible paths add an extra twist. And of course the chit chat (which I sadly had to miss this time due to a early morning hike). Something not to miss, ever.

The drive itself was fairly relaxed, with minimum amount of issues. I particularly enjoyed the "new" track at the beginning, and of course the nice climbs on the way. The dust was the expected challenge, testing the "drive blind" capabilities of all the participants (some places I literally could not see further than 4-5 meters in front) :)))

Huge "thank you" go to our dear leader @alshamsi_m - such events take an awful lot of preparation (and an incidental speeding ticket). Also big thank you to our Marshals and the Support team @Barish @rapailo @mohannad @osman @ALKHATIB @optimus @brett @nidal78 @Ehab for making this a safe and enjoyable experience for everybody.

We drove for 3.5h and covered over 74km (plus some 6 km solo lead-in to the meeting point :)

See you in the Iftar Bowl the coming Saturday!

Piotr