Shrek Guest Appearance

Our new rally car, christened Shrek by Lorna - Big, Green and tough -has recently had a holiday, spending three weeks in the Blue Bell BMW showroom in Crewe. Being as beautiful as it is, it no doubt attracted lots of attention. I imaging the shiny new BMWs were a little intimidated ;o)

Friday 9th October. We are on our way. we travelled to Folkstone then through the tunnel
attracting lots of comments wherever we went.

The first picture is of a bit of work being done on the drive before we left and this seemed, as ever, to be the theme of the trip. Upon stopping at a garage in central France we discovered that we had a little fuel leak, from the fuel cooler, bet some of you never knew such a thing existed, well I do and I know where it is, how to take it off and bodge it up with a variety of glues, thanks Glen!

The leak, almost, fixed we set off again and reached our goal just outside Chamonix for the
night. Good night and get some zeds. Next day it was through the Mont Blanc Tunnel and off to Italy where we are currently.

On arrival we realised that the back of the truck is getting really quite hot. Before we left we drilled some holes on the advice of BD. It seems we didn't go far enough so with a little help from the maintenance team at the 'Business Hotel' in Casale Monferrato we were going at it with a will. The back will not keep the rain out but should let the heat out from the radiator. We'll soon see.
Tomorrow we set off early for Genoa and the ferry to Tunisia. This is where all the fun really starts. scrutineering, roadbooks, waying up the opposition and Africa.

Can't wait.
I'll update this whenever I get a chance.
Results may be on www.sahara-masters.de we are car 112 in KAT 2
Fruit and Lorna

Back on the Road

Desert racing is a world inhabited solely by optimists. In this spirit we are planning our next adventure which will be the Sahara Masters Rally. 2 weeks in tracks and dunes in Tunisia. When possible I will try to keep this blog up to date with our exploits.

The car has had a few mods includingthe addition of a 3.0l BMW diesel engine, initial impressions of which are very good ;o)

Additional modifications are additional storage in the back, and a change from Terratip to Peltor intercom.

Fimgers crossed this will be a happier story than our last attempt.

One last thing the car has a new name; it's big, green, powerful, a bit grumpy but a good sort underneath.......Shrek!

Game Over!

If guts, determination and sheer bloody mindedness were all that was required - we would be in Spain by now, waiting to go to Morocco. Unfortunately, some good luck was also required and that was sadly lacking!

Fruit managed to get as far as Montpelier in the south of France before the car just stopped. There had been the expected problems along the way but most were solved with a turn of a spanner whilst others required a little more ingenuity - fuel pumps wired via a cig lighter.

On Saturday morning Fruit was barrelling along when the engine cut out with no warning - this proved to be a problem too far. Despite numerous attempts to get the car going again both Fruit and his new French mechanic friends were stumped - game over!

It has been some adventure, and we have met and worked with some great people, but we just couldn't manage the happy ending we were after.

We would like to thank everyone who helped us with this project and hope everyone on the Tuareg has a great time - we'll be thinking of you!

Take Two

It is probably true to say that when most blogs should get interesting - they dry up for a while - either because people are two depressed to write anything or they are so busy they barely have time to sleep - let alone be vaguely creative. We are no exception - Fruit has been stupidly busy and I have been trying to keep him going. Also, we are now up to about Plan F is it is hard to keep track!

Anyway - enough excuses.

Fruit set off for Almeria again yesterday evening (Thursday) - take two! He originally left at lunch time on Tuesday - but didn't get very far. The car conked out and we had to call upon the services of the AA to get him home. First thing Wednesday morning, man and car headed over to Land Ranger Services in Middlewich courtesy of Shaun's tow truck (2 days and 2 tow trucks).

Some work was needed to the cylinder head, and water system in general, a wheel bearing and the brake calipers. It sounds very much (to me at least) that if the engine hadn't conked out a wheel would have fallen off!!! It's funny how things work out sometimes!

So, by Wednesday evening the car was going again - but vibration was something of an issue - so Thursday saw the engine mounts being replaced with more compliant ones and me searching for some gel gloves and some ear defenders!

Last seen (and lets face it he is hard to miss) in France and heading South!

Dunes and desert maintenance

Back to the Xmas trip......

We started the day camped under a palm tree by a dune, what we had assumed - the previous night - was "the middle of nowhere". In the morning our every move was observed by 5 kids and an old chap, who were quite keen on selling us something - but even more interested in not missing a single move we made. Initially I found this rather uncomfortable (largely because I wanted the loo), but once we had decided to engage it was really quite fun - especially when we turned the tables on them and subjected then to our version of the tea ceremony. They weren't too impressed and required about half a mug of sugar to make it palatable!

We eventually got underway and headed into the dunes on a bearing - found the first waypoint and relaxed a bit. This was our first experience of driving in the dunes and the light was terrible - really flat - so it was difficult to see where the holes were, which resulted in us ending up in a couple of precarious positions. But a bit of digging and some advice from the locals and we were soon back on the flat lands between the dunes drinking coffee and comparing landrovers.

We filled up the tank and the jerry cans and headed away from Mersouga and civilisation following a route from BD. There was no sign of tracks or villages on the map - but the GPS seemed to know where it was going as we headed further and further off the beaten track. About 4.30 we spotted a rather nice looking dune which looked as if it would offer some shelter and pullled over for the night. It would have been a nice early stop, apart from the fact that the vehicle check revealed a dodgy wheel bearing! Time to put Jim's pre-trip lesson into practice with some desert maintenance. So Fruit's first wheel bearing change was done miles from anywhere, in the sand and in the dark. Quite an eventful day.

Shopping

There's not just a car to think about you know - oh no. There are gizmos and gadgets (the trip meter and GPS I have mentioned already), there are video recorders and cameras, there are miscellaneous bits of kit, first aid kits and, of course, clothes! While Fruit has been ordering headlamps and intercoolers I have been buying clothes and today I received the first consignment of Up and Under rally team hats (which will, believe me, become collectors items - my dad is already after one). The fleeces and T-shirts are to follow.







Miscellaneous bits of kit








Speaking of clothes, there is also the small matter of a race suit. I wore one of these for one stage during the Tuareg in 2007 and hated it. Fruit, on the other hand, looks at his as a big romper suit and loves it. He thinks I should have one and I suppose he has a point - while I hope not to need one, having a chance of not being burned to a crisp in the event of a fire seems like a good idea. And I have capitulated with the boots (Asics don't yet make nomex training shoes - a possible gap in the market?) and gloves, but the jury is still out on the full suit .... shame they don't do a two piece.....!

Missor

The second day brought more off road challenges and a few navigational err, how shall I say, hiccups. It strikes me that I am between a rock and a hard place here - as a poor workman blames his tools (so I can't blame the dodgy route instructions), but then if I admit to being incompetent - I might as well blame my tools.... Anyway, to cut a long story short, we got lost - a bit, but then we got found again - so that was probably good practice. The plan was, if lost, to go back to the last place where we were sure we had been. As we didn't have to go back to the start, I count that as a success!


We were certainly driving on terrain that was totally new for all 3 of us - the Rat being more used to axle deep mud, than to rocks and sand. We had tiny tracks to follow, oueds to cross and to drive up and washouts to negotiate. Odd bits of road were interspersed between the extensive off-road section, but even the road wasn't exactly what we were used to!


We made it to Missor at a reasonable time and decided to spend the night at the Hotel Baroudi, one of the hotels used by the Tuareg. I think we may well have been the only guests and given how chilly it was that, perhaps wasn't surprising (we ended up in our sleeping bags under their bed clothes with an electric fire on all night.

Now where was I?

Oh yes, on our Christmas 'dip to toe in the water' trip.

We took the ferry from Almeria (in Spain) to Melilla (in Spanish Morocco). For someone used to cross channel ferries, this crossing bordered on the bizarre. There seemed to be no plan (we were sent to the top of a multistory car park, only to be sent straight back down again), and the staff (all of them) gave the impression that this was their first day. Once on the boat, things weren't much better - the restaurant only opened briefly, about four hours into the crossing, long after hunger had passed.





Still, we got there, and then had the border to face. Another time I would go to Nadir (i.e. Morocco proper, instead of a small bit of Morocco the Spanish have claimed) and deal with customs on the boat. The border was pretty chaotic and something of a culture shock. Every time the gates briefly opened there was a rush of humanity loaded up with all manner of items fantically trying to get back into Morocco to sell their wares as soon as possible.


BD, a mate (and Dakar old hand) from just up the road from us, had given us some routes to try out. We had good instructions and GPS points - but hadn't worked out how to upload the GPS co-ordinates. After about 30 km on road, we turned off road and started to follow a canal and then it was truly off into the wilderness - just the three of us.


I was navigating well (I had no idea where we were - other than on the route we had decided to follow) and all was well in our world. Although it was dark by the time we decided where to stop for the night - but I think that was just an excuse for a camp fire (that and the fact that it was perishing!)

Progress?!!

OK, I'll admit it - I've been putting off writing this, largely in the hope that I could announce a major breakthrough - breakdown more likely (of the nervous variety)! So, we are still some way off. The engine hasn't been started yet and our ECU (which is kind of important) is in Gloucestershire, while we are in Cheshire. We are now on a promise of one on loan (thanks Andrew), so there is still a cat in hells chance that the engine will get started this week.

So, we are still running up against the buffers, with Fruit needing a new seat, which won't be delivered until next week. MOT, yes that would be nice, paint - it takes how long to dry?

Do you know how many individual components there are in a car? No, neither do I - but let me tell you its a lot, and we are still ordering them. Today I found myself flicking through Land Rover Owner International and Land Rover Monthly (unheard of), looking for breakers yards to try to source some Defender push button switches (2002 onwards), you know rear wash wipe, hazard flasher, heated seats that sort of thing .......anyone got any they don't want.....?

The powers of persuasion

The Xmas trip was supposed to be a way for me to dip my toe into the water before committing to the rally. Fruit had other ideas. He can be very persuasive and somehow managed to convince me of the benefits of entering the rally BEFORE we had been on the trip! He probably slipped that it while we were frantically converting the Rat to a camper van.

What started off as being a bare basics conversion gradually transformed into something of a work of art; fully lined, artwork on the window panels, a ‘double’ bed, folding table, food cupboard, solar panel, reading lights (I kid you not), over bed shelf and of course water storage and cooker. Well, it was to be home for two weeks.

Testing the kettle

In addition to that lot we had a jerry can on the back, a high lift jack, sand ramps, shovel, a box full of spares, tool box, two spare wheels (largely used for sitting on at the table as we didn’t run to garden chairs), sleeping bags, pillows and clothes for the trip – precision packing at its best - especially without a roof rack.


The original plan had been to both go from home to Spain (Calpe) in the Landy and then onto the port before heading to Morocco – but as I have less holiday, Fruit gamely volunteered to drive to Spain and pick me up from the airport a few days later. Fruit had a few reliability issues and I began to look up the location of Land Rover dealers in advance of his journey – but after 2 tow trucks, 3 garages and 6 bottles of coke he eventually made it to the rented apartment in Spain – only to find that the keys for the apartment didn’t fit the door – where would we be without mobile phones?

A little maintenance later and a trip to the airport to collect me and we were ready for the next stretch – down to the port and our first night together in the Landy. Fruit, of course, had to sleep diagonally and if I curled up it worked out nicely – although we did have to coordinate rolling over.

The mists of time?

It was back in summer 2006 when Fruit first started talking about doing the Tuareg rally. I wasn't against the idea, but was rather more cautious and wanted to 'try things out' first. So, it was agreed that we would do a trip to Morocco over Xmas and New Year. Plan A was to join a group, plan B was to go it alone. Plan B won out.

At this point we had never driven a 4x4, let alone owned one, so the first job was to go shopping. We plumped for a Land Rover Defender 90 - one, because it looked the part and two, because there was one for sale just up the road. Enter the Rat stage left.

A short wheel base probably wasn't the brightest choice as we planned to turn it into a camper and Fruit is 6 foot 3, fortunately I am only 5 foot 4. So with the seats folded forward, the creation of a cunning sleeping platform, Fruit sleeping diagonally and me filling in the gap at the side it kinda worked.

We bought the Rat in October and after a few off-road lessons courtesy of Jim at Explore Off-Road (http://www.exploreoffroad.co.uk/) and some camper van conversion work we set off to Morocco via Spain.

Get lost?!

When Fruit first suggested that I be his navigator for a desert rally I was, I confess, rather worried. Virtually the ONLY thing we ever argue about is navigation! Was this some perverse (and expensive) way of seeking a divorce?! If it was it was not a success as we are now approaching our 18th wedding anniversary (although there is another rally before then).

There are some pretty crucial differences between rally navigation and your day to day, "get me to Lower Thrupwell", map reading. For a start there are no maps (what a great idea). I am not very good with maps - contour lines are just brown squiggly lines to me (apparently some people can tell what the topography will look like from them.... could explain why I was crap at orienteering..!). Rally navigation, however, uses something called Tulip diagrams and 'accurate' distances between points.

Some of the diagrams are a bit of a mystery until you actually get there - but when you arrive all is clear - basically just follow the arrows. It seems to be de rigour among navigators to mark up your road book the night before using lots of highlighter pens. Being new (and, on the quiet, being rather partial to colouring) I did the same - I'm not sure why though. More important for me was to mark 'L' on the left hand turns and 'R' on the right hand ones - as under pressure I don't actually know my left from my right!

You also get a number of gizmos to keep you busy and make you feel important - like a trip meter and a GPS. The trip meter measures the total distance travelled and, by resetting at each instruction, individual intervals, which is great when your meter is calibrated EXACTLY the same as the person who made the road book!

Thus armed you can give your driver clear and easy to follow instructions. In 300m turn left at the T junction......... in 100m turn left .......... NO LEFT! Ahh the route to martial bliss.

26 days and counting

26 days until the start of the race - unfortunately its more like 23 days until Fruit leaves to drive to Spain ....

We started the new car, for now lovingly termed the 'Duck' (for reasons which may become apparent) in September 2008, when we got a Land Rover Discovery to act as the base vehicle. We then went away for a month to Libya in the Rat, which we had rapidly converted from desert racer to desert camper, on the Libya Rally Raid pre-tour (http://www.libya-rally-raid.org/-raid.org/). So nothing much happened until November.





After a bit of a incident in our last Tuareg, when we unexpectedly ended up upside down, we decided that an integral roll cage would be a really good idea and so with some egging on from BD and Paul Round at Rally Raid International 'the Duck' was born.

Fruit, while undetered by most things, doesn't actually know a great deal about cars (other than how to drive one) so he is on a steep learning curve. The Duck is currently being wired and the lights were switched on for the first time yesterday.

We have taken the rally seats from the Rat, but Fruit may be looking at a new one as it is a bit of a squeeze in the cab and, lets face it, any excuse for shopping (it's not a female preserve you know - its just that blokes buy different things).

A month to go

Welcome to the Rally Raiders Blog. A month today (inshallah) March 23rd, we will have finished day 1 of the Tuareg rally in Morocco (http://www.tuareg-rallye.com/).

We have a number - 252 - trouble is we don't yet have a car..!

We are Up and Under rally team (aka Fruit, Lorna and others) and this will be our second Tuareg. The first time, two years ago, saw us zipping through the desert in a 10 year old Land Rover Defender (lovingly known as the Rat).

This time we thought we would go for something designed for the job, with an integral roll cage and all that sort of stuff. Although the Rat had a roll cage it was a bit of an after thought and when given a thorough testing proved to be OK but only just.

Fruit is busy (very) building the new car, with help from Rally Raid International (Dakar veterans) but as you can see it looks as if will go right down to the wire.