Dearly B. Loved
OnToplist is optimized by SEO
Add blog to our blog directory.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

THE 4X4 CLUB – ZIMBABWE


THE 4X4 CLUB – ZIMBABWE

Newsletter No: 110

April 2014

 

P O Box HG 594 Highlands   Harare   Zimbabwe                                   The Motor Sports Club House,  2 Annan Road, Eastlea, Harare.

The Chairman and Editorial Team:

CHAIRMAN:      Peter Benzon                0775.009.218                      petebenzon@hotmail.com

EDITORS        Mike & Pat GILL  (M) 0778.843.843 (P) 0778.731.288  gill@zol.co.zw 

4x4 Club Website         http://www.4x4.co.zw                   Face Book Site:           The 4x4 Zimbabwe Club - Zimbabwe

The 4x4 Club is affiliated to the Zimbabwe Motor Sports Federation - ZMSF

Our Club is a member of the Mashonaland Motor Sport Association Club House, situated at: 2 Annan Rd. Eastlea.   It is available for hire for weddings, conferences, kid's parties, 21st birthdays, etc.

News, comments and opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Club or the Committee

 

 

 

THE EDITOR’S DESK        -   Michael and Pat Gill

We do have such a lovely sport and so do the Mountain Bikers.   We see parts of our country where mere mortals fear to tread.  We were asked by Alan and Sheryl Winterton of the MTB to, once again, do support for the Iron Will Charity Eco Challenge, in the Matopos this year.  We spent a week at Camp Dwala on Eastern side of the National Park in a World Heritage Site. A lovely site, five kms off the road near the Matobo Mission on the Old Gwanda Road, 60 kms from Bulawayo.   There are reputed to be in excess of 2000 ancient rock paintings in the area.  From there we bombed out most days to do control points and time the cyclists in, we spent one night on the banks of Mtshabezi Dam, another day up a  kopje to the Plaque to commemorate the battle of Nkantola in the Matebele rebellion dated  20th July 1896.

There is no power at Camp Dwala, they use inverters, solar power and generators and it was so good to be out in the bush again.  Which caused me to coin a phrase:  "Being in the 4x4 Club we see parts of our country that cricketers and rugby players are never privileged to see."  

Drive well; enjoy the wide open world out there.     Pat    

 

 

CHAIRMAN'S CHATTER:        -    Peter Benzon

The 20th HP Lubes Jamboree is drawing near and things are going full steam ahead in preparation. It is going to be a great event!

I was looking at buying a Toyota Surf the other day and in the process we noticed that the airbags had blown. It had not had any obvious heavy body damage so I was intrigued and did some research. I came across a story on the internet of a guy in his Surf. He was helping his friend cut down some fir trees. No problems until it came time to remove the stumps from the ground. They dug around them and attached the Surf using a chain. The first stump came out easily. The second stump was more firmly attached to mother earth. The guy tried once and it didn’t move so he reversed back a couple of feet and took off. As he reached the limit of the travel of the chain he came to an abrupt stop. The airbags blew with a massive bang. He was blown against his seat; the passenger airbag blew the plastic dash cover straight off and into the windscreen shattering it. Quite a serious "Oh Shit Moment" you will agree.

The upshot is this poor guy has to spend two grand on airbags for his car, not only that he has to replace the front seatbelts because they are equipped with explosive pretensioners.  And to add insult to injury he has to replace his windscreen.

So there is a lesson to be learned.   If your 4x4 is equipped with airbags do some research and find the fuse that will disable the system. When you are attempting a hard recovery remove the fuse. It may save your wallet and your heart!                    Peter Benzon

 

NEW MEMBERS:

John PARKER:  John heard of our next expedition and decided this would be the life for him.  He is a miner in the Shurugwe area and drives a Jeep. 


Andrew WATERHOUSE;   Does anyone know Andrew, he joined us for the Ngomo Kurera run in January and regret I do not have a Membership Application form from him so cannot add him to our mailing list.                     Contact me:  Pat Gill 

 

MEMBER'S NEWS:

David and Ria ROCK are on their annual pilgrimage to the north of Namibia and we look forward to hearing their stories when they return.

Pam and Bob Crook accompanied the Rocks but a g/box out repair to the crankshaft seal and a wheel bearing on their Landy caused them to return home. Sadly Bob's Mother had passed away too. 

Peter Ellis and Tammy:  The time bomb is ticking towards the wedding our chairman and the lovely Tammy Ellis on the 10th May. The air is almost palpable.  We wish them a long and happy life together. 

 

 


Water in the carburettor
WIFE: "There is trouble with the car. It has water in the carburettor."
HUSBAND: "Water in the carburettor? That's ridiculous"
WIFE: "I tell you the car has water in the carburettor."
HUSBAND: "You don't even know what a carburettor is. I'll check it out. Where's the car?
WIFE: "In the pool"
 

 

 

TECHNICAL TIP

Dropped the cell phone in the pool?  Electrical gadgets do not like swimming but there is a First Aid you can try.  Not guaranteed to work but worth a try.  First get the battery out as soon as possible. There are several ways to dry it out so here are a few.

Store it in Rice for a couple of days, place it in the hot sun or under a strong light for several hours, soak it in Gin (Alcohol), Then find someone to check if it is repairable.

 

 

SUBS:

On checking the Nite Extreme entries I note a number of "members" entered who had not paid their 2014 subs.  You naughty boys, I know who you are and I will get you!!  Play the game. 

 

PAST EVENTS 

NITE XREME

A HUGE thank you to Fuchs Lubricants and their team for all their sponsorship and prizes, without it this event wouldn't have been such a success. Our first major event of the year and what a way to start off.
Thanks to all the competitors, especially the ones from Bulawayo and Mutare.
Thank you to
Amelia Bennett for being Clerk of the course. To Roger Ellis thanks for organising the marshals, thank you to the marshals for keeping the drivers and public in check.
Thank you to my committee for their hard work. 

A big thank you to Mr Cruiser; Mica Q Hardware; Jim Perry Transport; Sendem; Supreme Butchery; Specialised Floor Services; Hukuru Chickens; Kiggen Construction; Stainzim; LR Manufacturing & Sales; Sawpower Blades (STIHL); Premier Auto; Prime Bond; Ezytrack; and Big Sky. 

Although named the Nite Extreme it started off with a Jamboree launch to thank all the sponsors of the forthcoming Jamboree in May.  This all took time and due to the competitors getting their cars to their respective test courses, and the marshals being briefed on penalties in the tests, some of us missed the fun and games with Castrol, again our major sponsor on the Jamboree. 

Two 'Rescue' cars, Mike Gill and Pete Jenkin, waited to pull cars back on their wheels or out the mud but, unlike last year, they had nothing to do.  Oh yes, several "Door handles, Roof, Wheels" did occur but all were push back by willing helpers.  I think the crowd enjoyed watching a car roll, get back on its wheels and continue with the test.  We had a very good crowd and I hear the caterers were sold out.

Results:     Class One - Standard and standard modified

1.       Alex Hawkins / Chad Bruford              Jeep

2.       Yesper Kirk / Matt Kelly-Edwards      Cournil

3.       Dale Kiggen / Geoff Clack                            Land Rover

                   Class Two   -     Special

1.       Adrian Watt / Jason Smith                Cournil

2.       Costs Dobropolous / Jason Landos       Jeep

3.       Mass Kirk / Thomas Kirk                    Cournil

 

 

FUTURE EVENTS:

JAMBOREE -   DONNYBROOK 24 / 25TH MAY 2014

Preparations are hotting up.  Course building days are getting closer.  A new repair centre is being prepped with a pit, cables laid for power and communications.  The grass is being cut and a hundred and one other things done.  This all takes a lot of work and we thank our hard working team for their input. 

Always remember the Jamboree is the only event in the year where we earn any money from the gate.  If you are looking for a job (voluntary of course) then we would be very grateful

for your help.  Contact Roger Ellis his details are below in the Committee List. 

 

 

Zambezi Expedition       12 – 15 June 2014 

Plans are underway and as soon as we have some concrete details we will let you know.  To date we have 23 entries.   If you would like to be on the waiting list please advise us by email.  This will be a true 4x4 social, bush event with wild camping but please no trailers. 

 

 

Watch out for flyers which go out before every event. 

Keep an eye on our Facebook site for Club activities.  

4x4 Club Diary   -      2014

Note the date changes in yellow.

These dates change as the year progresses, but flyers will be sent out before each event.

(A) Social Family Day. (B) Touring/Camping (C) Comp Car 4x4 driving.

Saturday       3 / 4 May                 Course building day                     (A)      Donnybrook

Sat / Sun       17 / 18 May                        Course building to fine tune courses (A)

Sat/Sun 23/25 May   Hp Lubes 4x4 Jamboree   (C)   D/brook

Thurs/Sun    12/15 June               Zambezi Expedition                       (B)       Escarpment

Sat/Sun         2 / 3  August            Bulawayo Jamboree                      (C)       Bulawayo

Sat /Sun        13/ 14Sept               Training day/ Junior Jambo         (AC)    Donnybrook

Fri/ Sun         26/ 28Sept               Bushpig                                             (C)      

Sat/Sun         1 /2    Nov                 3 hills                                                           (B)       

Fri / Sun        7/ 9    Nov                Mutare Jamboree                          (C)       Mutare

Sunday          7          Dec                 Christmas run                                (A)

Note some dates may be changed as circumstances dictate.

 Expedition dates are still under scrutiny. 

No doubt there will be extra Trail Drives fitted in for your enjoyment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
In hindsight I should have posted my Facebook status as: "I've blown the head gasket on my 2000 XR3i" rather than "I've just buggered a 14 year old escort".
The police still haven't seen the funny side, my laptop's been confiscated, and the wife has gone off to her mum's.
 

 

 

 

YOUR 4X4 COMMITTEE FOR 2014. 

CHAIRMAN                            PETER BENZON                      petebenzon@hotmail.com                0775.009.218

TREASURER                            KELVIN WEARE                      weare@telfordmica.co.zw                 0772.326.687

SECRETARY                            CAROL WEARE                      theweares@zol.co.zw                         0733.400.496

CHF MARSHAL/D.BROOK    ROGER ELLIS                          ellisr@barzem.co.zw                           0772.219.154

MEMBERSHIP                        WILMA HOEFNAGELS          wilmatembo@hotmail.com                0774.342.648

ENVIRONMENT                      MUZZA BLACK                      muzza@zol.co.zw                                 0772.241.000

EVENTS                                   JASON YOUNG                      jason@telfordmica.co.zw                   0772.918.878

EVENTS                                   JESPER KIRK                           tsoko22@gmail.com                            0772.414.281

EVENTS                                   MATT KELLY-EDWARDS       matthewkellyedwards@gmail.com  0772.384.404      

NEWSLETTER                         MICHAEL AND PAT GILL      gill@zol.co.zw                                       0778.731.288 

JAMBOREE CHAIRMAN        TIM THORBURN                    timthorburn.zim@gmail.com             0772.645.518      

 

DONNYBROOK

To enter Donnybrook Park on a non-event day it will cost you $2 per car, providing you have you membership card.  Non-members will be charged $20 per car.  You must sign the book at the gate and put your name, your Club and membership number.   Do not pay without signing the book.

Please note:  If you wish to go to Donnybrook to play and there is another event on, then the organizing club can charge what they like for you to enter.  They will have hired the entire complex for that day. Please don’t try and argue with the gate attendant, they will just be doing their job.  Either pay-up or go away and come back on a free day. 

 

FACE BOOK

We have a Face Book site "The 4x4 Zimbabwe Club – Zimbabwe" which is used daily by members to keep in touch with photos of events, etc. 

Motor Sports Association Club House


MSA Membership: The Club House bar works on a Swipe Card basis and any member of an affiliated club can join.  Pay your $20 Club House subscription and get your card.  Bar prices are double for non-cardholders. 

Hall for Hire - Hire our affordable Club facilities for parties, Wedding Receptions, meetings, seminars, courses and other functions.  Assist us in this way to obtain funds for the Clubhouse.

 

 

Till next time.                  

Michael and Pat GILL

Phone:   04.494028    (M) 0778.843.843   (P) 0778.731.288

 

2 comments:

  1. Simplicity on your blogger is really unique. Thanks for sharing your blog online.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow what a newest and gladiator life in Zimbabwe that always play with new role, I am Payal from Pune Feminine work on Independent contract in Pune, almost cover Independent community of Miss Foxy female in Singapore and In Delhi-NCR zone we operated by noida Female Escorts on line booking and confirmation.

    ReplyDelete