May the crest be with you
Posted: Sun May 29, 2022 10:46 am
Old Sweihan, afternoon drive towards the sun, you know just when receiving the MP that it is going to be fun.
Great attendance of intermediates, fantastic group of friends & drivers that always join in good numbers. First doubt cleared, 2 convoys, Optimus taking the "less experienced" with Bu Salem as support (congrats Optimus on your 1st interm lead, no doubt many more to come!!!) and the 2nd convoy lead by the organizing Marshall Mabubaker supported by Rashid and his copilot Scorpio driving Singh's car (don't worry Singh, Rashid was careful, he drove it like if it was his own ... )
So far all ingredients perfect, to top it up Mabubaker gives me the 2nd lead (thank you so much!!!), I guess being noisy in the chat paid off ...
We all know the area quite well, biggest bowls around without having to go to the "big dunes", always curious when being 2nd lead to a new Marshall for the 1st time in a drive where he/she will push a bit, Mabubaker made it clear from the start, we are going to make the most of the dunes and started with some fast paced hard side crest on the way to the 1st bowl, a lot of fun, my favorite move.
If one thing was evident from the start is that Mabubaker likes to drive the side walls ... plenty of those!!!, glad the snorkel and the sock are IN!!!!
Conditions were hard, hot, bushes, ditches, good pace, ... loved it. My only problem was with the gearbox towards the start, those continuous side walls required excessive use of 1st gear and we all know what happens with the Jeep, twice 1st gear would not engage, "safer driving mode" had to be "activated" until temperatures dropped a bit, trying to find any possible opportunity to give the gearbox a rest by using 2nd and even 3rd when and as much as possible.
One car with mechanical problems had to be taken out, afterwards one pop-out (not much for that area) was the next noticeable incident, later when we were on the way out Mabubaker noticed he had lost his GoPro so we went back on the same track, very bad luck for him, for us to be honest good luck, we were 3Km away from the exit and now we were going to do the full track on reverse!!!, unfortunately the camera was not found, that was not all, the "tire party" started, our convoy left with 4 damaged tires, I believe that the other convoy 2-3???, not a bad rate for one single afternoon ... "hard on the engine and soft on the tires" came to mind while driving back home.
We finished late, last tire change by the gate where we started, I think it was around 9:15/9:30 by the time I started my way back to Dubai, perfect time to reach home, shower and watch Madrid winning the 14th CL, perfect day to be honest.
Time to say thank you, 1st of all to all of the Marshalls/explorers, Optimus and Shamsi for taking care of one convoy (alongside Orlantsev), Mabubaker for organizing and leading the 2nd one with Rashid/Scorpio as support. Secondly to all of my fellow intermediates that always show up for the fun drives.
See you on the sand soon!!!
Great attendance of intermediates, fantastic group of friends & drivers that always join in good numbers. First doubt cleared, 2 convoys, Optimus taking the "less experienced" with Bu Salem as support (congrats Optimus on your 1st interm lead, no doubt many more to come!!!) and the 2nd convoy lead by the organizing Marshall Mabubaker supported by Rashid and his copilot Scorpio driving Singh's car (don't worry Singh, Rashid was careful, he drove it like if it was his own ... )
So far all ingredients perfect, to top it up Mabubaker gives me the 2nd lead (thank you so much!!!), I guess being noisy in the chat paid off ...
We all know the area quite well, biggest bowls around without having to go to the "big dunes", always curious when being 2nd lead to a new Marshall for the 1st time in a drive where he/she will push a bit, Mabubaker made it clear from the start, we are going to make the most of the dunes and started with some fast paced hard side crest on the way to the 1st bowl, a lot of fun, my favorite move.
If one thing was evident from the start is that Mabubaker likes to drive the side walls ... plenty of those!!!, glad the snorkel and the sock are IN!!!!
Conditions were hard, hot, bushes, ditches, good pace, ... loved it. My only problem was with the gearbox towards the start, those continuous side walls required excessive use of 1st gear and we all know what happens with the Jeep, twice 1st gear would not engage, "safer driving mode" had to be "activated" until temperatures dropped a bit, trying to find any possible opportunity to give the gearbox a rest by using 2nd and even 3rd when and as much as possible.
One car with mechanical problems had to be taken out, afterwards one pop-out (not much for that area) was the next noticeable incident, later when we were on the way out Mabubaker noticed he had lost his GoPro so we went back on the same track, very bad luck for him, for us to be honest good luck, we were 3Km away from the exit and now we were going to do the full track on reverse!!!, unfortunately the camera was not found, that was not all, the "tire party" started, our convoy left with 4 damaged tires, I believe that the other convoy 2-3???, not a bad rate for one single afternoon ... "hard on the engine and soft on the tires" came to mind while driving back home.
We finished late, last tire change by the gate where we started, I think it was around 9:15/9:30 by the time I started my way back to Dubai, perfect time to reach home, shower and watch Madrid winning the 14th CL, perfect day to be honest.
Time to say thank you, 1st of all to all of the Marshalls/explorers, Optimus and Shamsi for taking care of one convoy (alongside Orlantsev), Mabubaker for organizing and leading the 2nd one with Rashid/Scorpio as support. Secondly to all of my fellow intermediates that always show up for the fun drives.
See you on the sand soon!!!