Thanks again, ioan!

Couldn't bind to rfcomm0 - address already in use; binding to rfcomm1 works ok.
Then,
cat /dev/rfcomm1
results in the 'host is down' reply.

hcitool scan
shows the device fine, including name....!



Took out the /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf bind yes instruction, rebooted, tried with rfcomm0 - same result: host is down.

BTW somewhere along the line I also changed the /etc/bluetooth/pin to have 0000 as default pin - which is what the Holux GPSlim 236 should have as well...