I\'m prompted to post this by Des\'s ad in the Buy and Sell board, but
- I\'m not associated with Des/Deep Blue
- I\'m not pushing anyone towards any particular training provider.
Having got that out of the way....
I believe it\'s both important and valuable for all strong paddlers to train for and be assessed for Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications. Here\'s why:
1 - the training and the assessment (which can be treated as a learning opportunity in its own right) are a sharp learning curve experience. Your lazy habits and sloppy paddling, that you get away with day to day, are identified and you\'re shown how to fix them. You sharpen up on strokes, rolls, rescues, navigation, route planning, group awareness, communications, equipment and all the other good stuff that makes a balanced paddler. You may be learning about some of this for the first time, in which case you suddenly find yourself equipped to confidently plan multi-day island-hops, or to put your hand up to lead a group.
2 - While this is a \"paper\" qualification, and you could learn all of the above without following a syllabus or doing an assessment, the syllabus exists simply because it is \"everything you should know\" - do the L4 or L5 and you know that you\'ve got a reasonably rounded set of skills for general paddling. There\'s more, of course (surfing comes to mind), but with L4 or L5 you have the important stuff.
3 - Your club and association need you. We never have enough leaders for big groups, small groups, big trips, little trips. Doing L4 or L5 doesn\'t force you to lead trips, but it equips you to. Having (in most cases) benefited from years of being led on trips by other people (many of whom, coincidentally, have L4 or L5 qualification), you are equipped to \"give something back\". You don\'t have to, but if you think you\'ve been helped to develop as a paddler by others, I believe it\'s only right to do the same.
4 - A qualification makes it easy to establish your credentials. If renting boats overseas, a L4 (BCU 4* equivalent) is a well respected qualification. L5 even more so. So no hassle renting boats, planning your own trips, and so on. In Ireland, turning up for meets with leaders you don\'t know, if you have L4, there\'s no questions asked about your ability and you immediately go into the \"useful to have along\" category. For leaders, this makes their life easier.
5 - And finally. It\'s not trivial to do either L4 or L5. You may not pass at first try. But it\'s a solid achievement you can be pleased with, and a (genuinely) globally-accepted recognition of your personal paddling skills.
So - if not this week, then sometime soon, sign up for L4. Or, if you\'re ready for it, go for L5.
Ciaran