We wanted to find out more about our health, not only from an oenologal standpoint, but this time from a more medical angle. Possibly, this would result in a better understanding and enable us to participate in our friends' discussions more actively, since, when doctors meet each other and start talking "Medicine", engineers, as we are, have difficulties in following this latin.

As a side effect, we could hopefully also benefit from a more profound medical knowledge when sailing. We thus decided to join a Marine Medical Course, organized by the German Cruising Association: www.kreuzer-abteilung.org. It didn't quite say "Become a Doctor over a Week-End" in the advertisement, but that is how we felt being fed by medical advice on a full Saturday and Sunday in October.

While we were undergoing our medical training, Jessica and Jonathan were placed in an equally intensive German training camp by visiting good friends outside Hamburg. They practiced ther German language playing with German kids of the same age, while Karolina and I did our best to understand how come our human bodies still could be going strong after all these 40 years (almost). Our stay in Hamburg resulted in our children pretending having forgotten their Swedish roots, suddenly preferring to speak German with us, while Karolina and I were not quite as convinced of our just gained medical know-how.

Luckily it is not quite that bad, and statistics can prove that we are healthy most of the time. But honestly: shouldn't you do what you dream of in life as long as you are healthy, instead of waiting too long and then regretting anything you missed in life?

One of our best friends is psychologist (again, almost a doctor...). She just told me about a scientist having done an extensive research talking to thousands and thousands of people dying or close to their lives end. This scientist found out that not a single one of the persons she talked to ever did regret having worked too little in life, while many had long lists of unfulfilled dreams. Let us not wait until it is too late and allow us to live our dreams as long as we can!

The lecturer went through the entire body from head to toes, where the main focus was on understanding your body and making diagnoses trying to exclude what illnes it most likely couldn't be and to concentrate on the "best treatment", in other words: where you risk to undertake the least harm. Especially "stomach ache" was a difficult one and could mean anything from having eaten too well to gastric ulcer or even cancer. A bone sticking out was easier to understand: something must be broken that needs to be fixed.

We also understood from the course, that, from a medical standpoint, it is better to go bluewater cruising as early as possible in life. Further, it was interesting to learn that modern marine communictions open up new fantastic possibilities when it comes to get help. Imagine being able to directly call up your doctor at home (e.g. via Iridium) or to take a digital picture of your patient, sending it by e-mail to your home hospital while asking something like "And now, what...?".

We got a lot of useful tips&tricks what to think of and what to take with you onboard. Just the idea to take your own injections and cannula: if you need to get an injection at some remote place with questionable hygiene (AIDS, Malaria!) you can hand over your own sterile equipment to be used and say "OK, I'll take the stuff, but in this one, please!".

After going through a detailed suggested list of drugs, the "fun part" started: we were to sew a poor wounded pig, as well as partice other useful surgeries. Anybody having their appendix to be removed, possibly?