Star track XXII

[David]

5- drive in the Tilal Sweihan area with Barish taking the lead and Bu Salem as support.

Beautiful track, long time since I had not been in that area and I really enjoyed it. Barish made it clear at the beginning, communication, communication and communication, the main intention of the drive is for drivers to improve their communication skills when driving in a convoy, Shamsi added one point, distance. Personally I believe these 2 points go hand in hand.

If drivers do not give the "clear" when crossing an obstacle (straight crests in this drive) timely the next car will take longer than needed to tackle the obstacle which will result in a massive gap with the car in front, in order for the convoy to move and flow nicely we need to timely give the clears to allow the next car not to fall behind.

With regards to distance also always remember to inform if the distance with the car in front of you is too much (same for the car ahead to report if can't see the car behind), this area was clear of any other tracks so it was not difficult to follow the convoy based only on marks in the sand but in areas that are popular with many tracks in all directions this could result in cars following the wrong direction and potentially ending up in a dangerous situation.

Finally, you would have noticed a more technical and trickier area in the middle of the drive, again, distance in these situations must be adapted to the new terrain, you need to increase it slightly, enough to still see the car in front of you but also enough not to end up too close to another car in a stuck situation that would result in making the rescue/2nd try more difficult and dangerous.

Thanks to Barish and Shamsi for organizing, fellow Explorers Ehab & Carlos for attending as well as Bob, Brett and Kimoz.

See you on the sand soon!!!

[CARLOSS]

Hi everyone!

Knowing that not too many -5 members will read this post, we will keep on reminding them when in the sand the basic safety rules of this sport: “Communication” and “proper distance”. These two are the key elements along with “don’t fight gravity”.

Lovely and extremely hot Saturday afternoon spent on Tital Sweihan, visited a long time ago once supporting a GNFD so I did not know what to expect but to my surprise, it was very good with some but not disturbing bushes and the usual ditches. And it comes with a plus, a nice petrol station just at the entrance giving you to get an extra caffeine dose in the right moment thus, this is on my radar for future drives.

@Barish gave us all a short & accurate briefing and off we went with a combination of easy but lovely tracks, small dunes and a soft patchy area in the middle for making sure that our newbie members were always vigilant . In the menu there were a few straight drops which make the whole combo perfect for this level. Congrats to Barish because of the playground selection and seamless master class provided.

Convoy performed as expected knowing that for some members this was 1st of 2nd drive, so we had some gaps, too much short distances and lack of radio communication & active listening. No big deal though, we still manage to get the convoy safe at the exist point. All these will be polished in drives to come and "flow" will come up.

Thanks to Barish for organizing and leading, @alshamsi_m for taking care of us all, my mates @David & E@Ehab for their good job and interm support by @bobpavan , @KIMOz and @brett .

See you soon
Carlos

[brett]

Dear Almosters
I arrived early as usual at Tilal, Sweihan, filled up with petrol went to meeting point, deflated and waited for everyone to arrive – I waited in the car as the outside temperature was reading 50C!
Once everyone arrived the briefing was done by @Barish and additional reminders from @alshamsi_m – Radio communication – following distance etc. we were very lucky to have the additional support of the newly upgraded “Explorers” congratulations again to @Ehab @David and @CARLOSS
This time I was positioned mid convoy with @bobpavan as second lead and @KIMOz as sweeper.
The Drive followed a similar track to Gulf New Fun Drive, with some interesting/challenging climbs arches and tricky technical areas and the infamous Tilal soft sand.
The flow of the drive was a bit patchy with the convoy getting stretched due to 2nd tries and refusals at some climbs, radio communication certainly needs to be improved. The new Explorers were kept very busy giving assistance to the Newbies. We had one car decide the weather was just too hot to continue – it think it was a fuel issue, so the car was escorted out, there was a point were the convoy was completely disjointed, and we had 3 or more groups finding their way back to reconnect with the lead car. But by the end of the drive all were safe and the convoy made its way out safely to the exit.
Well done to everyone who took part – these drives in the extreme heat test – the reliability of the car, the stamina of the driver and the patience of the supporting crew, but at the end of the day we all learn some important lessons so Thank you to everyone who took part in the experience

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone

Although the temperature reached 51c , we were lucky to have some wind. Also, the new batch of our explorers was an excellent addition to make that day easy to manage.

Our leader @Barish took us in a very good track where members had the chance to learn straight creasing and keeping the right distance with proper communication while tackling the terrain obstacles.

The members did very well in the first part of the track, and I was hoping to do the second part, But the ground won again and we were able to finish part 1 only with the given time.

Thanks to @CARLOSS , @David & @Ehab . Well done gentlemen, great workout

Looking forward to seeing you all in Eid

Tell then, stay safe
Shamsi

[Ehab]

Hi Almosters

First trip as Explorer and in one of my favorite areas, Tilal Sweihan with Barish leading and Shamsi floating, the newbies had a very interesting experience going through both technical and non technical areas.
Few expected recoveries and one car issue that had to be escorted after fixing it.

Cannot wait to see you all again.

[Barish]

Hello everyone,

Knowing that it will be hot, the drive was planned for afternoon with a latest start as much as possible to finish just before sunset. Everyon was on time, ready to take off.

We made the celebration of our new Explorers followed by our must-do briefing of a Newbie drive; comms, distance, track obedience, second tries, stucks, tire pressure during heat..

We had these drive series first time in this area, knowing that it is wide and nice to flow the convoy, but full of tricky spots. We started with straight crest, then reached to singing dunes, tried some arches and passed the soft sand area in between.

We felt the heat, though we came to know after the drive that Sweihan was the highest temp in UAE that day. One hat off to all drivers making it happen and another hat off to support team during those weather conditions.

This was a real change for our members; dont forget the real change comes with improvement.

See you next time.

Barish

[tando]

Hello everyone,

First of all, I’d like to thank @Barish and all the other crew members for organizing and supporting us during this amazing drive. The route had its fair share of technical challenges—straight crests, soft sands, and steep climbs on vertical soft sand. Honestly, for some of the climbs, I didn’t think the cars would make it up through such soft terrain—but we did it!

The extreme heat was definitely a challenge, but overall it was manageable. For me, it was a smooth and fun drive. I got stuck once in the soft sand but managed to self-recover using 4LL. However, driving in 4LL for just two minutes caused the engine temperature to rise quickly and triggered a temperature warning light. I informed @brett, and switching to 4H helped bring the temperature down within a few minutes. Thankfully, I didn’t face the issue again.

I also crested twice at the top of dunes—many thanks to @CARLOSS for the quick rescues!

In total, we completed 46.42 km in 2 hours and 51 minutes. Looking forward to more great drives ahead!

[Minhaj]

Huge thanks to Barish and Mr. Shamshi for putting this drive even with the crazy weather. Really appreciate the effort and passion it must’ve taken to pull it off.

Big thanks as well to Brett, Ehab, Carlos, Kimoz, David, and Bob — you guys were super helpful and supportive the whole way. It really made a difference, especially for someone like me still getting used to things out there.

The route itself was pretty technical, and with the heat beating down on me, it definitely wasn’t easy. I found myself deflating my tires whenever I got the chance just to keep things under control.

I was the last car in the convoy, so the sweep marshal had his eyes on me the whole time — which was both comforting and slightly nerve-wracking! But honestly, I felt safe and supported throughout.

Tough day, but such a good experience. Looking forward to doing it all again soon