Early Bird – Trip Report

[Uristier]

3 early birds arrived at the meeting point ahead of time. One bird flew all the way to Al Khatim South to realise he was tweeting at the wrong station.

On the way to Remah there was some disagreeable fog creeping around and we decided for moving to Sweihan. The visibility in Sweihan was slightly better but good enough for starting our cruise. During the deflation we felt the drizzle with a temperature of only 23°.

The sand was wet and the scrubs sparkled in the rays of the early morning sunlight. While following a fresh gazelle track my passenger spotted the Arabian Mountain Gazelle ahead of us. A few dunes and some crests later we noticed a fast hopping rabbit sidesloping/sidecresting.

Oooops and after another crest we probably woke up a sunbathing Desert or Grey Monitor. He decided to hide under a scrub. This was a good opportunity for all of us to have a closer look at the reptile. The little lizard “grew” quite a bit when he inflated his body.

After this episode we decided to stop for a coffee and found the “Al Sahara” coffee shop open. During the coffee break we enjoyed an interesting lecture from our friend chafik.

With new energy, we continued our drive towards Nahel town. As before, everybody contributed with technical stops. I had to show a tire pop out to my passenger. Suddenly the fresh desert air was spoiled by a burning smell from fox’s box. We all agreed the smell was originating from the clutch and appropriate advise was given to our friend Walter.

During the continued jumping and cresting he must have lost the advise. While trying to pull a parked car off the crest parking position the clutch gave up. After some attempts to get the box moving by its own again we decided to pull Walter in his Jeeeeep out to civilisation.

Being in small and narrow dunes this turned out to become a tricky venture. Thanks Triplod for exploring and leading the easy way out.

We finally reached the Sweihan petrol station and Walter “ordered” the recovery to transfer his Wrangler to Abu Dhabi. Hope you made it in good time Walter and your box will be ready shortly for an other venture in the desert.

Thanks everybody for joining the tweeting early bird. See you soon out somewhere.

[Triplod]

Thanks Urs for another early start. You seem to be good at finding the fog. The Sweihan dunes were a good second choice.
Hope Walter did not have to wait too long in Sweihan for the recovery as its not the most exciting place for a stay.

Regards Triplod

[SSS]

it was not my intention to give a lecture ... but i am glad you enjoyed it(?)
Actually I enjoyed the trip a lot! Experiencing the change of the desert from a nearly rainy weather to a heat which makes every move an effort.
My first tire deflation to 13 psi was NOT effective anymore at around 11am I had over 16psi again. (which explained some of my technical breaks ) ... after going down to 11 it was fluent again

Nice : THE COMPANY! (Thanks guys!!!)
Nice : the nature and Urs' explanations about flora and fauna and that we had the chance to "see" that.
Nice : the trip was not too easy and generally we were making good progress.
AMAZING : how Urs managed to pull Foxs car with some effort at the hottest time of the day out of the desert (with Triplod's exploration!)
(I started wondering why we had all these technical stops as "single" cars before and not pulling anyone ... shame )

At 2pm when we reached sweihan I felt quite exhausted (from watching?) and decided not to continue with the 12hr party trip with the spicy(wasabi) and funny (mood) gang ... probably I missed something

Thanks Urs, Triplod and Fox for the good time!
And special thanks to Fox who saved my day with his jerry can ... hmmm ... I have to check my TJs fuel consumption!

[Fox]

This was a great trip ! A new experience with moisty sand, chances to exercise rescue ( not so good for
my clutch though). Good I could empty my jerry can into Chafik's tank before the clutch break down, so my
car's weight was reduced.
Chafik thanks for interesting technical views.
Triplod your vehicle is gorgeus, just why did you sit on the dune so stubbornly ? Hope you get your lockers
in order soon.
Urs you are my hero ! Thanks for passing so much knowledge about the desert life, the Gray Monitor and
the Sodom Apple. And, for pulling me out of the sand up to Sweihan Petrol Station, as if all was paved
road !! Incredible !!
Thanks to Werner for being under my car and fixing the 4H/L shift.

The rescue truck came at 16:00 as promised (al hamdulillah) and my Jeep and me had a ride to WM
Mussafah, without AC, it was hot hot hot. The driver was good company, as was the petrol station
staff during the wait time. Got a cold drink there, free of charge, in exchange for my remaining
croissants, plus pleasant chat. Have to bring some gift next time.

Thank you all, looking forward to meet you again !!