The chart table in the library, being the main table of any size within the ship, gets used for many things. It has been the Jordi’s office, Merel’s shop, Natalie’s sail repair cutting table, Dan’s Zodiac repair workshop, the patient resuscitation table during a fire drill, and has been the launching pad for an unwisely unattended laptop or camera. I have even on rare occasions seen it used as a table for charts. Recently I’ve noticed Hans has been working with the guides – teaching would be a better description – to ensure that should an incident occur the team of doctor and guides would know what was available and where, and would work seamlessly and effectively together. This is a good thing. Even so, going in to the library this afternoon I was somewhat surprised to see the chart table had been transformed into an operating table.  Sarah and Nilla were performing surgery on a foam scourer from the kitchen, under the intense gaze of the ship’s doctor. The good doctor was being 
thorough and prepared, and if the need to stitch a wound onshore arose, he would need a surgical assistant. And better to train the guides as assistant and practice with them beforehand than have to do at the time, surrounded by stampeding seals or psychotic penguins. And kitchen foam scourers are apparently good things to use for practice. So Hans had been stitching, and Sarah and Nilla took turns as assistant, pulling and cutting sutures at Hans’ behest as he stitched away. “But what if you’re not there?”, asked our resourceful guides. “Maybe you should show us how to stitch as well.” And thus it was that Sarah was stitching and Nilla was assisting, and the nasty gash in the scourer was being repaired to the undying gratitude of the galley crew. But any zombie will tell you that scourers can only go so far as a substitute for human flesh. Hans felt his students needed to take the next step. As the boat rocked gently from side to side, he rolled up his sleeve, got out his blue pen and drew an imaginary wound on his arm…