Wally wrote:
Given the reliability of modern electronics, I would say that someone
with partial knowledge of traditional skills is more likely to get
into difficulties than someone who is comfortable with nav aids -
provided he has learned to operate a battery charger, of course...

This depends a lot on what you call "partial knowledge." I'd agree that I'm happy that
most small boat operators can now have GPS since they will never learn running fixes, not
would they appreciate the "cocked hat." However, they should at least understand the
basics of the chart notation, the concepts of a bearing line, and (depending on location)
the meaning of variation. Without stuff like this, its hard to use a gps intelligently.
Also, I don't remember ever going through a season without at least one GPS "outage" of
some type - either a bad cable or dead batteries or sailing into a "gap" in the charting.
If this happens to someone without basic skills they are up the creek!