Desert Kite Buggying Diary

The winds have been unkind to us for the year end but nevertheless, it was still great to enjoy the miserable slivers that the Wind Gods threw at us in December.

On 28 December, I was the sole buggier at the Ghaf tree and was plagued with the fluttering up & down of my 8.5m Blade as the wind puffed on & off. Later, it picked up and I could even size down to my 6.5m Blade. It wasn’t the best wind for the Blade but I was still able to get into the dunes without the kite collapsing. I think a 7m Blurr or 7.3 m Yak might have been a better kite.


For a long time I had been thinking about pioneering a new route south of the ghaf tree. After studying the Google Earth sat. pics of the area, figured it would probably go providing the winds & buggy hold up..

So now was the time to give it a shot knowing full well the difficulties that would face me if required to get out of the dunes. Dutiful prayers to the wind Gods and all other important deities were made in the hope that they wouldn’t abandon me.I buggied into the sabkha where we normally play in front of the abandoned farm and where the camel herdsmen pump their water from an aquifer.

I chatted with Brig and said it should work while she figured it would be an adventure for her as well if she followed me into the dunes with her Razor.

Setting the route I’d already programmed at home on my GPS, I headed south slightly left of the Dragon’s teeth. These are the nasty, strange & twisted shaped sandstone rocks you see at the lower edge of the Half pipe dunes on my map.The blue track through the dunes & sabkha is a rough approximation of the round trip that I took.



I reached to the top of one of the highest dunes around and was able to look over a huge sea of sand hills with no visible respite or signs of weakness in them.

Then the fun began. Up & Down, Up & Down with some dunes dropping 30 metres down the steep leeward sides. I occasionally had to rapidly change direction around sneaky holes or rather trenches that were eagerly looking to swallow me up in a few places. I hadn’t had a rush like that in ages.

After a while, I started to wonder if these dunes would go on for ever. I had a scary moment at one point as the wind eased & the kite fluttered like it was going to drop down into a deep sandy bowl. I recovered the kite at the last moment as my lines dragged across a long dune crest whipping up a spray of sand.I reached a very high dune after a while & could see the large sabkha to the west.‘I know I’m gonna make it’, I thought sighing with relief.

Finally, I escaped the dunes onto the sabkha & then began the long tacking runs upwind to get back to the ghaf tree.

Brig told me that the huge dunes made for a wild ride in the Razor as well.

I called the new route, 'The Dragon Run' after Pete the Dubai Red Dragon and the dragon's teeth at the start of the dunes.

I then buggied up to the Buggydrome as the wind was still OK. I‘ve done that several times before but that’s a different story.65 kms that afternoon wasn't bad considering the poor wind and it was the icing on the cake for my last buggy run of 2008.

By Dave

Posted by FluffyWOO at 20:01 |