The last couple of days have been a typical drake crossing with endless sea swell and seabirds. Having left Antarctica probably for the last time, the passengers on the Ioffe are making full use of the bar to drink various toasts to the white continent. Last night a little Chinese lady who does not speak a work of English cornered the expedition staff and literally forced us all to down several beers with her. Buying rounds of ten beers at a time and getting very grumpy when we tried to sip rather than scull. Strange the people you meet. Right now Cape Horn is hidden in fog but we are just offshore heading for the Beagle passage.