This looked like a minor project when we started. Making safe and extending our Fuel Dock Jetty did not look like a big deal – but it was !

Two part walkway almost ready for launching

Firstly, we went the stainless steel route - thanks to Joe Hearne’s welding skills. We learned many years ago that while it may be a bit expensive, it does last more or less forever. The new Jetty walkway has been made in two hinged sections and they are now waiting on the slipway for assembly – see photo.

On goes the lid !

Next, we had to repair and extend the old wooden floating dock. Des B-K has the carpentry almost completed. Again, this is in two sections which will be bolted together in the water. The top sheeting will be finished on Friday and then we have to figure out how to move it all to the slipway to insert the barrels. It is a fierce weight and some willing hands will be needed.

More to be poured on the right

On Friday, we are also looking at pouring more concrete to expand the slab laid a few weeks ago as it is just not big enough for the correct placement of the walkway. Getting it done will depend on the water levels. Today, the water was perfect – so lets hope we get lucky again in a few days.

Figs, Simon, Geoff, Sam, Richard, Mark, Joe, Rick and Siggi have all played their part along the way – and now we may even get this job off our backs this weekend. Do drop down as the more hands we have the better.

Stainless Steel edges closer to the Club !

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It has been an extraordinary few months for our Club. Serious bank erosion damage caused by high water has pushed our Club to the limit but thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel. ‘And today saw a major step in the right direction.

Our first challenge was to redesign our Fueling Dock at the Club Car Park so that it could accommodate our Skiers while our bank erosion problem is tackled. This involved building two long stainless steel walkways and also rebuilding the floating dock to make a great starting area for all. The whole idea is NOT to lose any time on the water this Summer. Well, we are almost there !

Thanks to a great team effort, today’s plan was to lift the two large stainless steel sections on to a trailer and then transport them  from Figs house to our Car Park. ‘Just as well Figs does not live on the 10th floor of an Apartment block ! Anyway, as we report right now, the structure is slowly making its way to our site for assembly. Hopefully, by Monday morning, this first stage should be ticked off – and we will have some historical photos for you then !

Well done to all the Golden Falls Team !

Stainless Steel welding by Joe Hearne

The past few weeks have seen a lot of progress on the rebuilding of our Car Park Fuel Jetty.

The first step was to take the old structure ashore, dismantle it and make it larger, Des and Daryl just about finished that in the past few days thanks to getting a present of some wood from Figs. We just need to floor the top and that should be completed during this coming week.

Parallel to this, our Engineering Department got stuck in to making the stainless steel walkway and from the photo above you can see Joe making great progress in Figs garage yesterday. There to kelp were Geoff, Figs and Des.

The plan is to transport all the steel structure down to the Lake next Saturday – and for that we will need help. If you can lend a hand, we will meet at Figs house at about 09.00hrs and should be in the Car Park before 10.00hrs. So, for some fun next Saturday, come on down to a very warm welcome !

Concrete in place

It may look a bit on the quiet side down at the Golden Falls Lake at the moment

but don’t be fooled by that !

Right now, the new concrete plinth for receiving the new STAINLESS STEEL walkway from the Car Park Jetty has firmly set. As you can see from the photo, all looks ready for the structural engineering delivery !

Back at Watermark Engineering, Joe Hearne is welding away and the two walkway sections and support unit will be on site shortly. We will let all Members know when we will need a hand but in the meantime, feel free to help clean up the Car Park area and remove the Trailer which is ready for a visit to the Dump.

Old Jetty ready for expansion

We are also just about to start the carpentry work on the expanded old wooden Jetty which will also house the LPG equipment as before. Des is rounding up his saws and drills and is ready for action. Once this is ready, then we can assemble the lot and put that Malibu in the water where is deserves to be !

Get ready – we are almost there and Daryl is waiting for you to bring all your friends down to the Lake to enjoy every moment of this Summer ahead. GROUPS will be especially welcome. We also have some very special Ski Packages to announce shortly – a first in Ireland with a novel twist ! Working from the Car Park in the early stages will be a bit challenging but that will not be for long as development plans will be released for all to see very soon.

SEE YOU AT THE LAKE SHORTLY

As we all know, these past few months have delivered a few major shocks to Golden Falls – but thanks to the great support of our Members, solutions are on the way !

Access path and new concrete plinth

Over these past weeks and following our recent Committee meeting, we have worked on our plans to ensure that our 2012 Waterski season will be another great one for all. Our first challenge was to repair the old Fuel Jetty which was also damaged by the extraordinary water levels of this past year. Thanks to Figs, Simon, Daryl, Geoff, Siggi and Joe, the old structure was removed to our Car Park, Gas lines disconnected and a frame created for the pouring of the cement for the new base plinth. That concrete has already set. Fortunately, the water was at normal level at that time. This morning – see photo – that plinth was back under water again !

Pathway to the new Jetty

The stainless steel walkway comprising two lengths of 5m is under construction by Joe Hearne and thanks to Joe’s great efforts we should see the finished product in about 10 days time. The fabricated weatherproof walkway panels will drop into the frame once it is on site. The first 5m section will run from the shore to a steel frame on the concrete plinth to keep it above the high water levels – and the hinged second section will run from that out to the Jetty which will also be built shortly. Figs also organised the grading of our access walkway and that already looks good. We may need a donation of some temporary carpet to cover the ground in the walkway area.

Stainless steel sections under construction

High Water Erosion Damage This Morning

This is a bigger than expected project. It will however ensure that our 2012 season will get off to a good start as we finalise the details on how to return to our Clubhouse area once again. Discussions with the ESB, Banks and Committee will continue and we will keep you posted. Thanks to all for your help and we look forward to seeing you down at the Lake as soon as we post the OPEN sign here shortly. WATCH THIS SPACE.

Bank erosion continues as the ESB have not dropped the water levels back to those which we normal for the past 50 years. As you can see, the new fencing installed just a year ago at the request of the ESB during our new Lease discussions, continues to be undermined by the high water and already the concrete footings can now be seen above ground.

Healesville on Thursday bids farewell

Following the Celebration of Ray Stokes life in Healesville, Victoria, in Australia on Thursday, Golden Falls Members met today in Dublin to also share some memories on Ray’s visits to the Club in Ballymore Eustace over the past 20 years or more. Some tears and lots of smiles !

Australia’s Ray Stokes made an enormous contribution to the sport of Waterskiing in his short 51 year life. He revolutionised Jump Ski design, converted almost all to a much safer way to score big Jump distances, coached almost every major international Jumper and five National Teams, brought Emma Sheers and June Fladborg all the way to setting World Jump Records, and most of all made global friendships on a scale never seen before in our sport. With over 30,000 individual messages on his CaringBridge pages, his impact was exceptional. Irish Federation President Des Burke-Kennedy was invited to organise his Memorial Ceremony with the Stokes family in Healesville, Australia on Thursday.

Golden Falls remembers Ray today

Today, our Golden Falls Members got together at Chris Terry’s Cafe Du Journal in Monkstown, County Dublin for breakfast and to also celebrate the life of somebody who made so many great friendships over these past 20 years at our Lake. We then moved to DunLaoghaire’s West Pier to share some final thoughts beside the water.

Our condolences go to Ray’s family and June and Mark and Neil and all his closest friends. Our Club was one of the first to invite Ray to provide coaching courses and we will never forget his friendship over the past 20+ years. May he rest in peace.

If your name was Daniel Hearne or Scott Reeves, you would not now be using fur lined boots, waterproof gloves, ear muffs and turning up the central heating while putting more coal on the fire !  In fact, you would be on the white sandy beach over there near Brisbane sheltering under an umbrella and lashing on the suntan lotion before scaring away a few sharks for a laugh  !

Dan & Scotty in the shade !

Dan moved Down Under a two weeks ago and already looks like a local Surfer. Everybody remembers what a fantastic job Scott did for us at Golden Falls a few years ago and seeing Dan and Scott together this morning lets us all know that happy times are never far away.

Siggi and Joe sent us this lovely photo a few minutes ago and the only caption I can think of for this is :

NA NA NA NA NA NA !

Enjoy every moment Dan – and do keep in touch. Great to see Scotty again and hopefully we can all meet up at Moomba 2012 next March at the Yarra River !

THANKS TO BILLABONG FOR THEIR GREAT SUPPORT

We put the finishing touches to the Club site this evening and all looks really good right now. A big thanks to Daryl, Donal, Carl and all the team for getting the place shipshape for our very special RAY STOKES GRAND PRIX.

It has been a very tough week for Ray. Brain surgery, general anaesthetics, blood transfusions, all take their toll but hopefully Ray will now feel better having got over this stage successfully. He hates cold weather and would really prefer to be up on the Gold Coast rather than in Melbourne. I don’t think he would fancy doing Rescue Boat duty when we kick off here at 09.30hrs here tomorrow !

We also launched a RAY RAFFLE just 48 hours ago and have been overwhelmed by the response from our Waterski friends. Just amazing ! The list of donated prizes is extraordinary – see below. Billabong have also donated Winners Prizes as we will give the standard Cash Prize to Ray also to help with his medical costs. As of tonight, we have sold exactly 40 RAY RAFFLE tickets at Euro 20.00 each and all this will also go to Ray.

So, our SLALOM and JUMP athletes will be ready on the dock tomorrow at 09.30hrs sharp – and we hope that the tail end of the USA Hurricanes don’t spoil our party !

Thank you all for your fantastic support. It is really appreciated by our Golden Falls Team.

HERE ARE THE PRIZES DONATED TO OUR RAY RAFFLE TOMORROW :

SkiCaraibes One Week – Island of St Martin – Coaching by Guy Laurent and Brigitte Lethem

Apple iPad – donated by Donal Connolly

Special Party Night at Your Venue – DJ+Full Sound System – donated by Martin Cullinan of TODAY FM

Vintage Champagne – donated by Simon Durham

Vintage Champagne – donated by Fiachra O’Riordan

Complete Utility Pocket Tools Bundle – donated by Dermot Fenton

Custom Monogrammed Car Mats – Your Name for Your Car – donated by Des Burke-Kennedy

Terryglass Cottage Weekend on the Shannon – donated by Jakki Kavanagh

CyclePlus Full Monty Bicycle Service – donated by Steven Cautley

MasterCraft Goodies – donated by Jonny Crawford

Full Winter Fitness Programme – 12 Sessions with the Professionals – donated by Carl Cautley

Get your iPad at Golden Falls

Come for the Skiing – and stay for the RAY RAFFLE PRIZES !

To create some extra fun at our September 10/11 RAY STOKES GRAND PRIX, we put out an urgent call yesterday for donations of interesting items for our special Raffle which will take place before our Podium results are announced on Sunday, September 11th at the Golden Falls Boardwalk.

Within just a few hours, great things happened. We received a sparkling new iPad from Donal Connolly, some rare Vintage Champagne from Simon Durham and a full KEEP FIT Course from Carl Cautley. Many thanks to Donal, Simon and Carl for responding so quickly. What a great start !

Can you add anything to the RAY RAFFLE ?

Just drop a note to Des with the details of anything you can offer so that the proceeds which will go to the RAY STOKES FUND and will be added to the TOTAL PRIZE FUND which is also going to help Ray at the RAY STOKES GRAND PRIX.

des@burke-kennedy.com

The annual Slalom & Jump Grand Prix has now been transformed into the RAY STOKES GRAND PRIX. All at Golden Falls are doing everything possible to make this a special experience in honour of our dear friend Ray Stokes who has been our regular visiting Australian Coach since 1990 – twenty one years ago ! On January 19th this year, Ray was diagnosed with Cancer and given 90 days to live. Eight months later, he still carries on the battle and today is having brain surgery to help ease the burden. To date, 19,875 people have visited his CaringBridge Website to leave get-well messages ! That is a measure of the level of enormous regard for Ray.

So, this year our RAY STOKES GRAND PRIX will have a twist. We are asking all the participants to support our plan to turn all the CASH PRIZE money on offer into a donation to Ray’s Fund. Golden Falls have agreed to add a further donation to ensure that the amount raised will be of help to Ray. All the details are on the Official Notice – see Link below. So, do come along and ski for Ray. Your efforts will make a real difference to the fun on the day.

We are also running a special RAY RAFFLE only for those who are present on Sunday, September 11th. The chances of winning something special must be high. Donated Prizes of any kind will be greatly accepted if you can help. Already Donal Connolly has presented a gleaming all new iPad  !  Wow !

And now for the business details – and if you want to bring along Angelina Jolie and Freddy Krueger, we will have spare seats available !

As usual, this is a THREE ROUND Slalom and Jump PERSONAL BEST competition. It will kick off at 09.30 hrs on Saturday, September 10th. Entry Forms must be returned by Thursday night, September 8th – so that the RUNNING ORDER can be released on Friday. This really does help all concerned to enjoy the entire weekend. Click here for the details :

GFWSC RAY STOKES GP NOTICE 2011a

GFWSC RAY STOKES Entry Form 2011

PLEASE SEND YOUR ENTRY FORMS TODAY TO

des@burke-kennedy.com

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