Convoy

***** Mytommi
* tcross (Tom)
* Omarelayyan
* Naderabumanneh
* qurat
** Anasrft
** shiroy
**** Ayfas (Shaju)
**** CANTALOUBE (Jean)

As Ahmed had attracted more Newbies to his trip than he could reasonably handle I volunteered to take over a second convoy.

The weather was quite diverse with a mix of sunshine, rain, heavy wind with lots of dust and sand in the air.
Arriving at the deflation point there was lots of activity as obviously a film crew accompanied by a police car tried to film something.

The start of the trip was delayed but eventually we took off at 15:00 h after trip and safety briefing.

We practiced driving and safe descending from small and medium dunes. All drivers handled there cars reasonably well. We took some breaks to rest and provide feedback.

After the first hour Jean took over to lead the convoy, which gave me the opportunity to have a better look at the individual drivers.
We had a number of second tries, a pop-out but no stuck.

After the last rainshower we could also admire the rainbow that Ahmed mentioned.

We finished the trip slightly before 17:30 h and just when I was about to leave the other convoy arrived from the desert.

I would like to thank Shaju and Jean for their professional support and Shiroy and Qurat for Second lead and Sweeping respectively.

See you soon in the sand
Thomas

The Trip was good but still could've been better, the drive time was short but we enjoyed the good weather and rain.
some observations noticed in the trip as below:
* the convoy should be advised to avoid over deflating in rainy days and solid grounds to avoid Pop-Out.
* we did one side crest while driving which we were not prepared and didn't know how to act on the top of the crest, but it was good experience to try.
* when there was 30 mins left to the trip to end, we were very far from the inflation point and we had to drive very fast on the way back(in Gutch track) with speed around 80Kph which was not safe with the rainy weather.

on the other hand, we had good time with the team, we worked together to get the pop out fixed and had great conversations in the breaks.

hope to see you all soon again with big smile
special thanks for Marshal Tommy and Jean for organizing the trip in such a great weather and see you soon

Thank you Ahmed for arranging this trip. It was a pleasure driving with you Thomas whether newbie or intermediate or advance. Thank you thomas and John. Desert was beautiful to see after rain and the rainbow. All did well.
Regards
Ayfas Offroader (Shajumon)

Omarelayyan wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:38 pm

The Trip was good but still could've been better, the drive time was short but we enjoyed the good weather and rain.
some observations noticed in the trip as below:
* the convoy should be advised to avoid over deflating in rainy days and solid grounds to avoid Pop-Out.
* we did one side crest while driving which we were not prepared and didn't know how to act on the top of the crest, but it was good experience to try.
* when there was 30 mins left to the trip to end, we were very far from the inflation point and we had to drive very fast on the way back(in Gutch track) with speed around 80Kph which was not safe with the rainy weather.

on the other hand, we had good time with the team, we worked together to get the pop out fixed and had great conversations in the breaks.

hope to see you all soon again with big smile
special thanks for Marshal Tommy and Jean for organizing the trip in such a great weather and see you soon

Dear Omar, thank you for your comments. I am sorry that you couldn’t fully enjoy the trip.
However, we did not do any side cresting. Side cresting is driving along the crest of a dune.
But as I said during the trip don’t do anything you don’t feel comfortable with. If for instance you think the speed is to high for you let the trip leader know through the radio so that he can act accordingly.
Maybe I missed it but I can’t remember hearing you saying something along those lines during the trip.
Communication is key... and see you in the sand.
Thomas

Hello to all.
Thank you Ahmed for organizing this trip and thank you also Thomas for this beautiful course in Upper Butais. The place was perfect for experienced newbies like we had. There were no lateral crest passages but face passages as we learn at the newbie level. Thomas Shaju and I consistently kept it safe.
All the drivers drove very well, one of us did a Pop Out even though his tire pressure was good. A hazard of the route as we often encounter.
Thanks again for this wonderful trip, see you soon on the sand


john

Thank you MyTommy and Cantaloube for the trip. Enjoyed the drive, weather was beautiful and that rainbow was cherry on top. It was a nice trip.