Tiffin in Cairo

There is now great excitement amongst the eight of us taking part in this unique and ambitious expedition into the remotest areas of Southern Egypt. For the first time in two years of planning we can finally announce that we are definitely GOING! Money has changed hands, Carnets applied for, deposits sent and shipping is in the final stages of being booked. Current favourite is to take both Jeeps to Felixstowe and have them loaded into a container for shipping with Seagoline Ltd, part of the Mearsk shipping group. The RoRo option is a little cheaper, but not enough to merit the lack of security. Agents are ready in Alexandria to grease palms and take care of the myriad paperwork. Last time I drove into Egypt from Libya, I remember having no fewer than 15 pieces of paper including a ‘brass rubbing’ of my chassis number!! Sam Watson, who lives in Cairo, and I will be kicking around in Cairo awaiting Jeep arrival in much the same style as my Grandfather and Grandmother did in the 1920’s as depicted in this rather charming picture of them. I wonder if the cafe still exists.
All for now.

A tight fit.

The finishing touches have now been made to the Land Rover 101, so that it can transport one Jeep in the back and the second on a trailer behind. The recently fitted AlliSport intercooler has improved performance of the 300 Tdi engine by about 15% and with the Willy’s in the back we made serene progress down the M1 this week.

Loading and unloading time is in the region of 2 hours from start to finish, but once the Jeep is in, the wheels come off and the 101 canvas roof just fits over the load. It’s tight!

This is the combination that will transport both Jeeps to Southampton next March to begin their journey to Egypt with shipping company Grimaldi.

Second Jeep Training weekend.

Our second Jeep training weekend in The Peak District enjoyed remarkably pleasant weather - a bonus when camping! This month we were joined by our American Expedition Members, representing the prestigious, U.S. based, Explorers Club. Jason Paterniti, Alistair Calvert, who is actually very English, and Bob Attwater, along with their pal, Paul Warren and Bob’s wife, Susan, mastered the delicate art of double declutching and how to drive the myriad trails around Derbyshire. (Zoom in!) The Sahara will be very different of course, but it was heralded as a very successful weekend and everyone felt more at home in the Jeeps at the end of it. We covered exactly the same route as it September, but this time without any mechanical problems. With the Expedition now looking to be fully manned it is time to finalise shipping arrangements, logistics and the small details that need to be established to make the Easter 2012 trip a success.
The event also raised £200 for Help for Heroes, making the total raised so far £500.

Jeep Driving Weekend September 2011

After months of preparation the first of our two Jeep Driving Weekends finally happened this weekend. We were blessed with good chunks of sunny weather interspersed with the odd shower, but that did not dampen spirits.
We welcomed Karl-Gunnar Noren, from Sweden, James Platt from Rippon and Steve Riley from Harrowgate who were entertained and guided by myself, John Carroll, Matt Savage and guide, Kieran Johnson. On hand to help were Will Savage and Dr. Charlie Hubert. Saturday was spent mastering the noble art of double declutching on a part road, part track around the Matt Savage Estate. Unfortunately a fault in the steering box put the Ford GPW out of action for Sunday’s Green Laning day, but the Willy’s did us all proud covering over 70 miles in the day with a mixture of drivers.
As we stopped for lunch at The Waterloo Inn am email from The States revealed we were being ‘virtually’ stalked by Jason Paterniti. ‘At the moment you appear to be on the A6 near Priestcliffe.’
Proof that the Spot location finder was doing it’s stuff.

Route research

Purely in the interests of research (!) 4x4 Peak District Guide, Kieran Johnson, who runs Free Spirit, and myself, took the Willy’s around the proposed route for our September Jeep shakedown last week. Not only was the 80 mile round trip of Derbyshire great fun, but it proved that a 68 year old Jeep is the match for most types of terrain we are likely to encounter, both on our planned Jeepery weekend in September and, ultimately, in Egypt over Easter 2012. Soft sand was a little short in supply in Derbyshire, but we had rocks, bumps, ruts and fast stretches over smooth tracks. Thanks to the nifty little Spot locator you can see roughly where we went. I say ‘roughly’ because it sends a location every 10 minutes, so the route looks a little hard to follow. All will be clearer in the desert, where it will represent an accurate description of our route The Willy’s held up very well and throughout the day I covered just over 230 miles, including fast Motorway driving (55 mph ish) and about 40 miles of off road. There are, inevitably, a few small snagging jobs to do on the Willy’s, but nothing serious and it performed admirably throughout.

Peak District Shakedown.

We are planning a major shakedown of both Jeeps over the weekend of 17th and 18th September. It is vital to assess an accurate idea of the petrol likely to be used on our 1200 mile Desert Expedition next Easter. It will be impossible for our logistics team to carry enough fuel for all the vehicles involved, so prior to the Expedition they will be running a fuel dump of full Jerry Cans somewhere down in the Desert, marked by a GPS Waypoint. The Peak District green laning weekend will cover about 100 miles of mixed driving - tracks and road, fully loaded with three people per Jeep (and a back-up Series 1 Land Rover!). Priority for the six available places will go to those who have signed up for the trip, but there may be a spare seat or two. Register an interest via the 'Contact' button on our web site. We shall incorporate a lunch stop at the famous Waterloo Inn.
The photographs are courtesy of Keiran Johnson who has considerable experience running Green Lane tours of the Peak District and will be acting as our guide in September. Keiran and I will recce the route sometime in August and the next Blog should report on that trip.

Flies in the teeth.

Will, my other son, and I, had a screen off blast south to a Steam Fair on Sunday. Great how 45 mph feels like 100 mph without wind protection. That's it!