I know you came into sailing later than Randy, but you learned to sail on a P26. Randy, like me, may have learned to sail at a very young age in dinghys and boats that tip over in a wink(those were good learning devices!).

So you sailed all over the coast, then got a P30, and sailed and sailed some more. Now you have radar and maybe some other new gizmos. Of course you'll put them to good use and hopefully they'll enhance your sailing. But you won't be telling me they're essential!(you do, I'll kill you!)

Tillerman on the other hand sounds like he started on a bigger boat. He may have started "electronically" His whole world on the water was different than yours. He'd never sailed in the fog or at night except using radar.

If my hunch is right, I can see his panic at the idea of sailing at night without radar. I can't think of any other explanation.