Mike: Your last para is right on.!!! Why is cost always a factor. What cost do you put on self reliance and satisfaction? When I discuss electronic breakdown I am not only thinking of the internal batteries but of the GPS system itself. There are certain hours when the satellites do not communicate and give false answers. Boaters being cheap do not want to carry the redundancies that the airlines have and therein lies the problem. All I am really saying is that it is prudent for a sailor all alone in the mid ocean is to be able to rely on himself and the ultimate redundant sextant is ultimately dependant on the redundant sailor. Regards. Leonard Stern, Indifference.