Desert Gazing - The Old Tracks

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Tomvanhouten
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Hi everyone,

other then last week, this drive was on Friday night, which I guess, woke some people up already ORLY

We started near Nizwa going towards Pink rock which was rather nice. I like that area a lot for its diversity of small but sharp dunes and the bit higher ones where (if no tracks) you can go faster.
After this one, it was a small crossing to the other side to end up in Badayer area. I must say, personally, this is not my area. Too many tracks, so many people who are not thinking of others, I rather seek the quite corners where everything is untouched.
BUT, we were doing a drive, so all that personal opinion stuff doesn't matter.

We went to all the famous tourists destination and finally ended up in the town where the group splitted in non gas station and a few gas station people.
Home in a foggy manner around 0230am.

Thank you @scorpio and @rashidjass for the drive.

Tom
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galindakis
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Hi all,

This was my first night drive this year and quite a interesting one as I was testing the car without rack and tent. It is crazy how this weight affects the behaviour of the car. Crazy.
@Scorpio designed a route which covers pink rock, Iftar bowl and super bowl. It was super nice and a little bit of everything.
Some parts were covered by tracks which made it less pleasant but fun in any case.
We finished by 2am and I suffered a little problem with the lights that @rashid sorted out, thanks a lot.

It was fun, long enough so I was wanting more...
Thanks to @brett, @Tomvanhouten, @Laarni, @PedroLeal and all the rest of the crew.

See you soon in the sand.
Best.
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Scorpio
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Hello Everyone,

I think some of the members registered for the drive without realizing its on a Friday this time. But I still didn't see any drop outs and we had 100% attendance thumbsup

The route was designed by @alshamsi_m and he had to put extra effort in refining it and making it safe and interesting for our members. Thank you Bu Salem for making it happen! in love

We had a very nice enjoyable drive from Nazwa to Super Bowl with multiple learning opportunities that came in between. We reached Iftar bowl around quarter past 12 midnight and I asked the members if anyone wants to leave or we can continue. As expected, the convoy was up for more so, we left for Super Bowl from there :yuush:

Few points as take aways:

1. Night drives carry more risks so, capitalize on learning from the car in front of you to mitigate those risks
2. Keeping the right distance help you avoid falling into issues like losing the track or the convoy
3. Religiously follow text book rule of straight cresting
4. If you have lost the convoy and don't see the track in front of you, don't try to create one to join the convoy. Stop and communicate with Marshalls for rescue
5. If you don't see the car behind you, time to communicate

Thanks to all the intermediates and Orlantsev for your support and to @Rashidjass for keeping the convoy safe and connected.

See you soon on the sand.

Cheers,
Scorpio
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orlantsev
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Hi all,

I have been away for a month and missed some great drives. Just got back, but did not register initially as I had a huge backlog of things to sort upon return. I visited Jass garage on Friday. After completing the car maintenance I figured that my evening was free and I asked permission to be accepted to the drive. Thanks @scorpio for adding me.

It has been a while since I drove in the dark, and my light set up is more intended to get to and from the campsite in the dark. Weather was perfect and I came to the meeting point way ahead of time. It was good to catch up and hear stories from the recent drives.

I was allowed to flow in the back and stayed mostly behind Tom who was sweeping. In night drives especially it is very important to not leave big gaps. When we reached the pink rock and climbed some cars from the 2nd part of the convoy took the wrong turn. Instead of going right like the rest of the convoy they took left. We ended up encircling the whole area before reconnecting with the rest of the group. Otherwise, there were no other delays in the 1st section of the drive.

Once we moved to Badayer side dunes got bigger and added challenge to my float. I lost sight of the convoy. I saw light in the distance and thinking it was our convoy I went in the completely opposite direction. Then I remembered that @scorpio said we were going to Iftar bowl, but the lights were in the opposite side. Time to report. Thanks to @rashidjass and his passenger for spotting me and guiding in the right direction.

Expectedly convoy started to have more challenges in this section. Multiple second tries, stuck cars. I bet if it was daylight we would not have any. The disappointing part, however, was not following instructions. Lots of delays could have been dealt with faster and more efficiently.

We finished later than planned by general consensus. I have terribly hectic schedule in the next few weeks, but hope to drive as much as possible before my next planned departure in May.

Bets wishes
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brett
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Dear Almosters,

Finally it was Friday ! a slow day at the office waiting for the time to go home. Then waiting again at home for the time to leave for the meeting point - it was only 30min from home, I left way earlier than I needed.

I met @azk89 at the petrol station. Then we drove together to the meeting point where we found @anton already waiting, seems I was not the only one eager to get started. Soon the others arrived and we enjoyed chit chatting until time for the briefing.

@Scorpio explained our route, Then hands up for 2nd lead and position was taken by @laarni. I was mixed in the middle of the convoy with @martin in front of me. @pedroleah was also mid convoy, with @tomvanhouten sweeping. @rashidjass floating and @olansev also hanging out floating and sweeping.

The weather and full moon were perfect, the sand was very soft but as mentioned we had a reasonable flow for most of the drive.

One straight crest managed to catch out a number of drivers, requiring use of magic buttons and some pulling to dislodge the hapless drivers. I managed to continue my Kangaroo style climbing pink rock - still need to work on that !

I later realized maybe it was more of a grasshopper style as I discovered a large grasshopper jumping around inside my car - this was very distracting (scary) when it started buzzing around my head while trying to concentrate on the dunes. Eventually I managed to catch it during one of our stops (while waiting for the lost section of the convoy to reconnect) I released it back into the wild but for a few minutes it kept trying to get back into my car !!

By the last 10min of the drive I realized I was getting very tired - it was late for an old man to be out. I started to make mistakes which resulted in a number of second tries to cross the dunes once I got my approach angle and speed right !! but further behind me the tail end of the convoy was also struggling to get through those last few dunes - with probably also fatigue playing a role in the mistakes and delays - listening to instructions of the marshals in these situations is VERY important

The Drive ended quite late and I was thankful of only being 30min from home and the awaiting comfort of my bed. I slept until almost noon on Saturday !!

Lets see if Solo Bats next Friday is as straight forwards as @scorpio's track - I Doubt it !
Until the next Adventure

Brett
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piotr
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Starting with apologies for a properly overdue report, here come my few thoughts :)

I have always been enjoying the night Ramadan drives, and this time it was no different - amazing lead by @scorpio delivered a great mix of all the best the desert has to offer - small dunes, big dunes, even some bowls and crests - and all that in the dark. Exciting!
The track required maximum focus throughout as it was not an easy coasting. In particular, the multiple tracks on the dunes made is extremely difficult to find the right way if one lost sight of the convoy - managing proper distance was key. I myself fell victim of keeping the distance too short a couple of times, result being not enough momentum to clear the climb/obstacle or having to take the second try along the vehicle in front (in a bowl :) ).

Overall the pace was good, with the usual number of stucks/second tries for a night drive, which I felt increased towards the end - I assume this was due to the members getting tired deep into the night. The tail of the convoy once disconnected from the front after a climb to Camel Rock - thanks to @Rashidjass for picking us up.

Overall we covered 46km, all in 3.5h (2.5moving!)

Thank you @scorpio and the support team for an amazing evening! See you again - in the dark!

Piotr
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