Apprentice Starts

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presa
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Topic open for trip reports.

Please post how was the experience, what you like, what you dislike and trip details from your view.




All credits goes for @nidal78

Presa
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AntonT
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Dear dune people, off-roaders, almosters!

That was indeed a great day!

Everything was perfect - club's almighty management team who professionally welcomes desert lovers to their off-road family and mother nature, which gifted full moon night in the eve.

We shared our experience of travelling and life in Africa near the campfire with newbies, and exchanged opinions about enhanced offroad gear. The desert, like a doctor, took accumulated tiredness and, in exchange, filled us with a feeling of peace.

Soon after sunrise, we had a morning briefing by @rapailo about almost4x4 policy and its structure, as well as mandatory "fly-away kit" we must to have onboard, and what we should not do in dunes. So we are ALMOST ready to play jazz!
Radiofrequency is tuned, the convoy is lined up. Technical dunes ahead? No problem! Despite a few cars at the head of the convoy stuck several times, the leader of our pack @alshamsi_m , ruthlessly stated “don’t change the track!!”. Proactive, at the same time patient to our mistakes, marshals @Barish, @presa and crew/ intermediates/advanced drivers @brett @Tom and @orlantsev quickly sorted out any stuck… and we surf ahead like a ship convoy in a rough sea ….

I hope this journey will last for a long.

Anton
Last edited by AntonT on Sun Nov 21, 2021 1:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Tomvanhouten
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Hello everyone,

First of all, welcome to all our new members, it is great to see new people who share the same passion!

I was (eventually) assigned to the convoy lead by @alshamsi_m , with floating marshals @Barish and @presa .
As support @KIMOz , @mpodroid @Stephan , @orlantsev and myself.
Starting in quite a technical area, the route was quickly changed to have everyone enjoy more.
Great decision, the flow started to move more, but then we came a soft patch which needed a straight crest, another soft patch and some small technical area's to get out. This took a bit of time to guide everyone thru, but professional as they are, this action was completed in no time by the marshals.

After that we went to a bit higher dunes with some overview, which clearly meant an increase in convoy speed.
Lovely flow, good weather and a great atmosphere accompanied us on our way out!

To all our new members; getting stuck, having second tries or experiencing pop-outs is not a shame, as long as we all get out safely, we are having a great time!

Hope to see everyone next week again,

Tom
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brett
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Dear Almost Dune People,

Firstly welcome to all the new members who joined us for the camp and the Club Member drive. thanks to @Abu Jimmy for arranging the event.

I arrived at the camp early to set up banners etc in preparation for the group arrival. The camping spot was easily accessible and in a beautiful location. Oryx and Gisselle greeted us on the drive in.

Once people arrived it was a great experience for new members and existing members mingling and chatting, sharing food, kids playing and the communal campfire where many stories were told, some stories were true, others may have been less than authentic. But it is a campfire where all stories can be told.

Eventually people drifted away to find their camp site, set up tent and grab some important shuteye.

We woke early and packed our tent then enjoyed fresh coffee at the campfire, before
heading to the meeting point to welcome the new Club Members, assisting with tyre deflation and general information to the many questions they asked.

The briefing was done by @rapailo with his distinct style and humour – it was very informative for the New Members and set the scene nicely for what they can expect in their off road journey with Almost4x4. @alshamsi_m introduced all the various members in attendance – Founder, Marshals, Explorers, Advanced, Intimidates, Media Team and Crew – I won't name them all individually as there were too many. New Members should realise the essence of the club is to create a safe environment for learning how to successfully drive in the desert. All of the people mentioned above donate their time and energy voluntarily, there is an immense amount of planning and effort that goes into each and every drive.

On this occasion our Members had the privilege of receiving very generous goodie bags from our sponsors 4Wheel Auto shop in Ajman (Profender Suspension) and B F Goodrich Tyres.

The convoys were set and each group gathered with their respective lead Marshal for additional briefing on convoy placement, radio frequency and an overview of what expect in the drive. I was given the honour of being 2nd Lead behind @alshamsi_m with @Tomvanhouten @mpodroid as support, @orlantsev , @KIMOz floating and the ever present watchful eyes of @Barish and @presa roving around and directing all the recoveries with military precision.

The first area was quite technical and came as a complete surprise to the club members. The sand was extremely soft, within the first few dunes our lead car became stuck in the soft stuff – with myself suffering the same fate. Fortunately we were both able to self-recover very quickly, this resulted in the convoy having to readjust for @alshamsi_m to find a better line for the convoy. Then I became completely crested on a very low dune crossover, I had approached on the wrong line and without the momentum to successfully make the crossing, I was quickly extracted by @presa with a quick pull from the back and re-joined the lead car. Meanwhile the rest of the convoy were encountering numerous 2nd tries and stuck situations behind us, meaning we spent a very long time getting everyone safely out of the technical area. Unfortunately one driver had to be escorted back to the road as it was discovered they had an almost empty tank – off roading 101 be prepared, full tank is absolute must at the start of any drive, basic tools and of course the very precious water !

Once everyone was out of the Technical area we headed across the flat at a nice pace and into the area of bigger dunes. The convoy started to flow much better in the more open dunes. We had a few stuck and 2nd tries but overall it was a very pleasant 2nd part of the drive.

We look forward to the Club Members who completed the drive and have been awarded their Newbie Star (having had their tools checked off by the Marshal) joining the drive next Friday morning.

Remember the drive registration opens tonight (Sunday) at 6pm sharp, places are limited and the are snapped up very quickly – by 6:01pm it will likely be full, even the waiting list ! so alarm set and hit the join button at exactly 6pm Good Luck
Until the next Adventure

Brett
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AndreAJ
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Another day another drive,

I would like to welcome all of the new Almost members who attended there first CM drive, this was in need a drive for the books. The CM's came out in force ready to earn there first Star and prepare for the first newbie drive. As always Almost 4X4 attracts members with great sense of humor and fantastic personalities, these are key requirements for us as we love to chat and build long lasting friendships.

I was lucky enough to be a part of the drive as second lead in convoy #3 lead by @Solmaz who was able to take the CM's for a memorable drive, we had some interesting stuck situations but our Support crew did a fantastic job in helping and recovering the cars. We had good radio communication and the marshals instructions were clear and the convey adhered to them. @Ehab managed to get really good footage of our drive so thank you for that bud.

Thank you to @alshamsi_m for planning this drive your time and efforts are always appreciated, Thanks to @Jasper for sweeping up behind us, and to the rest of the support crew thank you. a big thank you to @brett who ensured all the new members received a welcome goodie bag.

I look forward to the next drive so i hope to see all the new members in the sand soon.

Andre
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Hello ALMOSTers.

I really appreciate your help and great support and lovely reception of myself and Lisa into the family.

We, and especially Elisabeth, loved the drive speed and challenges, and we look forward to more of those!

Best regards
Daniel
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The Dark Side of a CM drive

Hey Guys, please allow me to share with you my last Friday’s non driving experience just in case it may help you, new Almost 4x4 Stars.

Since I came over from the summer break, mid-August, I believe that I drove all weekends…both days in some of them. In between, I had 3 important drives: Rescue the Marshal, Catch me if you can and the Interm exam…so after evaluating my chances on last Friday, I decided not to drive on my own (as long as I did not qualify neither for the CM drive nor supporting TT TT ) and said to myself: “It’s going to be fine, it’s good to be at home, take some desert’s rest and you will be back with even more energy than before for the next drive, etc.”. But I made a terrible mistake because I did not consider at that time how much addictive this thing is OSMILEY and found myself completely lost when spending a full Friday and weekend outside of the desert.

I woke up at a decent time (around 7) without the typical headache caused when I wake up at 4am or something before going for a drive and leaving my place like a ninja without making any noise. I felt weird and started to feel that things were not going well and not only because I was a bit sick, but it was already 7am and I was not in the desert yet! melt

After a long breakfast (how I missed my Starbucks café latte and warm almond croissant at Enoc Psmiley ) I started to prepare the kids for going outside. It took me only 2 hours (normally it’s more than 3) to get them ready and went out for doing some groceries, buying some presents for a birthday celebration and spending some time with the kids having early lunch in one of these fast-food places they love so much.

When I saw all these people doing pretty much the same thing I thought: “This is what “normal” people do while we are having fun in the desert” and I felt sorry for them because they don’t know what they are missing. If you think about it, it’s difficult to see parents with smiley faces in the mall but you can see plenty of them in the desert. So, my argument it’s solid & bullet proof. cool

We came back home after lunch and spent most of the afternoon at home. It was ok but still the coming breeze reminded me these windy afternoons in the desert…Even though I live close to the desert, it was not the same. And I was desperate counting the minutes even seconds to get my wife back from work looking for some consolation and in the meantime, I spent some time securing the fire extinguisher bracket to the new rack, tiding up my recovery tools, removing sand from the car here and there, cleaning the air filter when it was already cleaned…and planning what additional “essential” stuff I should need to buy for the camping season when we have already any possible item, two times. thumbsup

She finally showed up and I was so obsessed with the desert’s idea that I decided to go to ACE to buy one of the missing “essential” items: Water spray bottle for the trunk of the car, a must! And asked my friend Brett for some advice and then I came to know about the worst possible news for that day: He was still driving in the desert late afternoon while I was at ACE! Oh man, that was very depressing! whut

So, my dear friends, here is my humble advice: Please stay away from the desert and specially from Almost 4x4 if you don’t want to be depressed on a Friday without drive! Please spare yourselves the pain, time and money for treatment. wtfsmilie

It's too late for me! thumbsup

Carlos
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Very nice Club Member drive.

@rapailo gave us one of the best CM briefing that I can recall: congrats and thanks.

I was in the convoy number 1, led by @alshamsi_m and here is my video report.



Marco
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Hello almosters, almost 20 hours in dessert and it was amazing, we went to the camp the day before the drive, we reached early and the weather was amazing. Woke up early, quick breakfast and coffee and headed to the CM meeting point. @rapailo did the briefing for the new members and it was indeed a very good refresh. I was assigned to convoy 3 led by @Solmaz as media team, it was an easy drive with minimal stucks and recoveries but we enjoyed it and what i liked the most is the brief by Solmaz specifically to me as I will be kind of floating to capture some footage, Ehab drive safely, try always to stay of flat ground, do not rush, later @rashid and @Scorpio advised me to make sure i announce it in the radio and inform the drivers if I need to cross the convoy at any stage, all for our safety, thank you all, highly appreciated.
Enjoy the video and looking forward seeing you soon.
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alshamsi_m
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Hello Everyone

It was another successful event by the club and the whole team worked as one unit which reflected the FAMILY spirit we spread among our community. The weather was a bit hot later but during the briefing, it was all well. have a nice day

Since I was the organizer I had the honor to lead a convoy. From the start, I gave a wake-up call to our new members and took them to the technical dunes just to have the feeling of the soft sand. Later on, we had a smooth drive with some drops also to practice what @rapailo gave us in theory cool

At the end of the drive, we drove to Al Qudra lakes for site seeing and end up our beautiful event.

Before I close my report, I would like to say Congratulations to the ones who got their first star and we are looking forward to seeing you next weekend

Cheers
Shamsi
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