Presentsis for the Preciouseses - YBOD Flags

Following the debut outing at the GPS challenge of the YBODs dive flag on the fishing rod areal (its a long story and a great gadget for the truck) it seems that it was so good it got the grumpy goat to thinking and following a trip to the UK he came back with a gift for YBOD3:

Y

B

O

D

Its a set of four marine flags spelling out the good trucks name (YBOD) and next trip into the desert you can look forward to seeing these be raise aloft the truck and flapped for all they're worth - Although I shall of course be following all the standard rules of flag etiquette

Thanks go to the Grumpy Goat....who clearly ain't so grumpy after all and in fact is a bit of a softy - lavishing gifts on the YBOD3.

PS If any of you fellow bloggers know how to make annimated giff files work on blogger please let me know because on my computer those four flags flap in the wind and look so cool whereas here they are flat......and not so cool.

YBOD3 Fame

Well its official, YBOD3 is so sexy that even ICON want to bask in the associated glory by putting her on their front page to show off their handy work.
And given how good a job they did, proud they should be.

Charge of the Headlight Brigade - ME4x4 GPS Challenge

What a day, and go which way?
What a day and onwards
Into the Emirate of Sharjah
road the three Toyota
Forward, the Three Toyota
Charge for the dunes we said:
toward Falaj a Muwallah
rode the three Toyota.


‘Forward the three Toyota!’
With GPSs they're dismay’d?
Not tho’ the others knew
some other teams they blundered:
Theirs not to see us fly
Theirs just to wonder why
we attempted dunes or die,
Across into the Emirate of Dubai
Rode the three Toyota

Dunes to the right of them
Dunes to the left of them
Fences in front of them
Slip faces a sundered
Storm’d at with low ratio and well,
Boldly they drove like hell,
Into the jaws of death
and past big red as well
Rode the three toyota

Thrashed all their gears bare,
Thrashed as sand flew in the air
Grunt and Octane there,
Charging a dune while
All the others wonder’d:
Plunged in sand ‘n smoke
Along a dead line they rode;
Cuiser, Prado and Fortuna
Reel’d from engine stroke,
Shatter’d and sunder’d
On to the next coord'nat, and still
The three Toyotas.

Dunes to the right of them
Dunes to the left of them
Dunes in front of them
High and steepened
Storm’d at with low ratio
while other teams they fell,
They that had drove so well
Came along the shorter path
Right through to point 4 as well,
Every bit left of them,
Unbroken the three Toyota.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild drive they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour that drive they made!
Honour the three Toyota,
The second placed Toyota!




Original Version

O-man I love Oman - Part 1 - The Journey Down There.

With visa in hand my co-pilot and I headed off down to Muscat. We set of in the early afternoon, around 4pm, and flew down to Hatta for the border crossing. Now I know from past trips that you have to get an exit stamp from the UAE followed by and entry stamp into Oman. I also know that the Oman step is always straight forward, with the border post clearly obvious and the desks/windows in a logic sequence.

The UAE border control on the other hand is far from obvious. At one time you had to got to the Hatta Fort Hotel; buy a main meal for want and a refreshing glass of non-alcoholic beverage and with receiot collect a voucher which you exchanged for a form which was copied and stamped, in triplicate and then thrown in the bin and you went on your way.....OK I might have exaggerated a little there. But you did used to have to go to the Hatta Fort Hotel to get your exit stamp. Then having exited (officially according to your passport) you then drove a fair few km down the road to the actual border, where they had an officer who checked you had the stamp, and took great pleasure in sending you back if not.

When I arrived this time I had been forewarned that the Hatta Fort Palerva had been removed and that you now had to get your stamp from a little kiosk on the border, just after the Ali Bin Daylight Robing Insurance Company offices. So I duly drove down to the border, found the insurance offices, parked my car and wondered around aimlessly for ten minutes trying to find the said kiosk. Eventually I found a prota-cabin/building thingy only to find it was shut....no explanation why.......no instruction on what I should do otherwise. I asked around other people just shrugged and said “Everybody just driving straight through now”. And sure enough there was a steam of Dubai and Abu Dhabi plates driving straight through past me. I decided I had better things to do that wait at a border post that was closed so carried on to the Oman border with a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I was going to regret not getting my exit stamp.

At the Oman border post, as usual, a completely different experience. Whats this, a large clean white building, with clear signs (in Arabic) and a number of windows at which to get the necessary stampage, all set at a height and offset that you cna easily reach from your car. The guy behind the counter is polite, smiles and takes the pastports with a friend “Salam Ali Coumb” (apologies to the Arabic speaking world as I am sure I have spelt that wrong). He then taps on a computer, stamps the passport and hands them back with a smile. I tense, and wait for it......the inevitable “ah wait, problem”........he smiles again, I smile back and he goes to speak.......he it comes.......”Hallas, you are finished”. “What, I can go? That’s it?” “Of course, hallas”. I thank him kindly and drive away remembering why I love leaving the UAE and love arriving in Oman.......but I am still looking in the rear view mirror expecting to be called back.

With the border cleared its off to Muscat, guided by the GPS and looking forward to one of Lou’s cuppa’s. And apart from a short detour as it seems the Garmin is programmed to believe the quickest way in to Muscat is to leave the freeway and go through a supermarket car park and then rejoin the freeway (I have no idea why, but it did) we had no hassels

After a good cuppa and a few beverages at 'Steve's Bar' Bob and Jan arrived and we bid them all good night and went to get a good nights sleep.

YBOD3 Modifcations

I thought I'd share a few photos with you of the new and improved YBOD3 following its recent face lift at the hands of the boy's down at ICON.

As you may (if you care to look carefully enough) notice I have had a new steel bumper, Alu bash plate to protect the engine/radiator and a 2 inch dobinson lift kit fitted.



And doesn't she look mighty fine with it?