It's uncanny how dependent we've all become on our communication devices. It wasn't long ago that being out of touch was a desirable condition, a chance to relax and "get away from it all." Now, take away our Internet and cell phone and we feel out of sorts.

When we left Norway, we left behind a beautiful country. We also said goodbye to Telenor and the Internet. Our USB modem wouldn't work in Sweden without exorbitant roaming charges. We resolved to tough it out without email or Skype for a few days.

We loaded up on weather information from www.yr.no and checked email one last time. Then, the pace of our journey slowed as we moved south under fair skies, perfect winds, and mellow seas.

Upon leaving Moss, we bypassed our planned anchorage of Papperhavn, favoring the more remote island of Tisler just north of the Swedish border. On the way, we topped off our fuel tank in Skjaerhaden, the last source of relatively cheap Norwegian diesel before crossing into Sweden.

We arrived in Tisler around 2 p.m. and found a mooring ball waiting for us in a protected cove. We launched the dinghy and explored the island, which featured verdant alcoves hidden among rocky crags.

Returning to Windleblo around supper time, we found several boats crowded into the cove. It was Friday night, so we figured Tisler was a popular getaway. A skiff full of drunken Norwegians hailed us, came alongside, and offered freshly caught crab. We politely refused, but they insisted that we take several, a sort of peace offering before the fireworks and raucous laughter that would emanate into the wee hours from their boats not more than 30 meters away.

The next morning as we prepared to leave, the marine police came calling. Two officers pulled alongside in a fast looking launch. It was just a routine patrol, they said, with illegal fishing and hunting their main concern. Any anxiety was quickly dispatched as they proved very friendly and did not ask for any documentation. Rather, I got the impression they just wanted to check out a new HR40. The one who spoke English best had recently completed a circumnavigation in his own boat. When I told him I planned to take Windleblo across on the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, he said after Norway's West Coast the ARC crossing would be a cake walk. He advised the best sail arrangement for the crossing was two foresails, with the main fully furled, suggesting that the boat would ride smoother and be more stable using this arrangement. I banked his advice for future evaluation.

Leaving Tisler, we crossed the international frontier under cloudless skies. The winds continued to favor us with 15 knots on our beam. We toured between the Koster islands and considered overnighting there, but opted to push on to Kalvon, an anchorage Vickie Vance of HR Parts had recommended north of Havstenssund. Again, we found a mooring ball upon our arrival, which we took. We indulged in a layover day, enjoying a nearby beach and nature walks ashore. The pace of our voyage had indeed slowed, and we finally felt like we were on vacation. After finishing her umpteenth book, Jocelyn almost even complained of being bored.

From Kalvon, we sailed at four to five knots in 10-knot following winds to the offshore island of Storo, one of the Vaderoarnas, or "Weather Islands." The islands were quite remote. None-the-less, it offered a year-round inn and restaurant. A small harbor beckoned, but we chose to anchor out. The following day was windless, so we decided to lay over. We took the dinghy to the back side of the island and sunned ourselves on polished rocks. Finally, we had gotten the hang of relaxing!

Tuesday evening was a bit uncomfortable as the wind picked up and the waves wrapped around the island such that they hit us broadside causing quite a roll. Our trusty Rocna anchor held fast, so no worries, but our sleeping was a bit shallow. Waking once or twice to check for anchor drag, I was rewarded with a brilliant starry sky, among the best I have ever seen, an advantage of the lengthening nights.

Wednesday morning, we weighed anchor by nine, headed for the Swedish resort of Smogen. Again, a beautiful 15-knot beam reach pushed us along. We're only moving 20 miles a day these days, which leaves plenty of time to explore once we reach our destination. We walked 20 minutes to an electronics store in Kungshamn to research Swedish SIM cards, learning just enough to convince ourselves we needed to learn more. So no Swedish SIM card -- and no Internet -- just yet.

Back in Smogen, I took a swim in the fresh water swimming hole I found last year, a bit of a flashback to the Mahina Tiare III adventure. Later, we shared chicken & potato tikka masala, cards, and bed.

Today, the wind betrayed us and we motored the final 10 miles from Smogen to Ellos, arriving around 3 p.m. You can see us on the HR webcam. We're the second boat pointed out on the right side of the photo. We have now logged 1,895 miles and have returned to the starting point of our 2009 voyage. Tomorrow, I expect to work with the Yard on remedying "shake down" issues, and next week we will take the boat a few miles around the island to see Johannes about winter storage. Then, we should have some time for local sailing to round out the season before leaving Windleblo in Johannes' care.

Shortly after arrival at Hallberg-Rassy harbor, we jumped onto their deluxe WiFi network and were instantly reconnected with the world. We found our emails waiting for us in our inbox and, after a brief scan of headlines, concluded the Earth kept spinning just fine while we were out of touch. I'm proud to say we survived disconnection just fine. Perhaps we should go Internet cold turkey more often. Try it yourself. You might like it.