After all the finer details were ironed out, it was on. We met at the 1st gate, (with me about 15 minutes late) deflated the tyres, recruited some members for the forum, and set off into the white-ness. The sand was quite soft, as the wind has been blowing quite a bit lately and it was warm enough to dry the top layers out. The dunes are also shifting, as is usual at this time of the year with winds changing from NW to SE. This made for interesting driving, as the normal landmarks seems to disappear.
We did the usual places, but from early on it became abundantly clear that we will have to get on with it as the sun was out to get us. It was really hot. What seemed like a huge workout for the Jeep was childs play for Kaspaas and the Rat, but although the Jeep is pretty capable, the driver was a little too careful and would rather get stuck than take a chance of damage to the tupperware. The dunes were way too much of an off-road experience for the driver.
Once midday came we were all out on our way home, it was just too hot and the glare was really bright. We all had a hot good time though, and we are ready for more, only when it is a little cooler, not 38 in the shade.
Kaspaas lost the power steering belt, and turning became a huge effort. Especially with deflated tyres... But once I had the front wheels inflated to 2.5bar (or should that be 3.5bar George?) turning was a little easier. At first I thought the diff-lock was not dis-engaging, but when I opened the bonnet (darn) I saw the P/S pump was without a belt. Luckily the P/S has a dedicated belt, so everything else was working fine.
Coenie's Rat had no problems in the heat, with heaps of low down torque spinning the tyres with impunity and clearing the big dune with minimal run-up.
