You don't really ***have*** tobore a big hole in the boat...they have surface mounted ones that allow you to drill the 1/4" wire hole above the wl. Yes, the real heavy duty lights from OceanLED and Abyss require a substantial hole in the hull below the wl....and also some have to be hooked up to a transformer or black box. The ones I have are light weight and relatively inexpensive but from what I have seen are brighter or as bright than the real expensive ones and about 1/5 the price. Also the are 12v direct, simple hook up. I figure if they break then no great loss...but from what I read on other sites they seem to work fine, so I tried them, the fellow is nice and makes them up for you quickly. They seem to be fine.

Also, what is amazing with the strip lights...26 linear feet of lights, (1' strips daisy chained) each 1' strip has about 10 LED's ( I didn't count but that is approximate)...all this draws less then 1 amp combined!!

The downward facing one I plan to mount will be installed under the swim platform facing down, completely out of the water. The other two aft lights will be mounted below the WL on the transom, all are surface mount and only require a small hole about 1/4". I have seen some lights that even mount on your Trim tabs. This is a rapidly evolving technology.

PS, how is your transducer mounted?

Thru hull. I'm thinking about installing the strip lights under the gunnels. But I'm still leary of punching more holes in the hull.

I'm curious how these "strip lights" are mounted and wired? Any close ups pics or additional information you can share? Thanks.

There is some adhesive on the back but it is lame, that will not hold over time. I used that initially, then, put a dollop of clear silicon around each connection every foot. Figured it would seal out water getting into the connection as well as help hold it up. That holds it up fine. It is not the cleanest installation but it is in a non-visible area. You can get strips that are housed in a plastic case with a couple screw holes. I just used silicon.

If I was to do it again...I would only install these inside away from all the harsh elements. They still work but OK. I like the idea of a sealed tube. I have seen some that are in a tube.

3M Boat Camper Waterproof 60 LEDs White Light 20 Module
Look those up on eBay I can't post the link?
I have these up in the tower running around the canopy. Enough to light up the deck, but not so bright that they are annoying.
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i have a ebay led spreader light....works awsome, very bright and alot cheaper than ones from tasco etc.... only down side was it took about 2 weeks to get i belive it came from austrailia or something of that nature heres a link to the light i got, i got a white one tho..
SLIM BLACK LED FLOOD WORK LAMP LIGHT 15W 12V 24V/32V Boat Marine Truck Deck 4x4 | eBay

i am 100% happy with it , i looks like a quality light. if i think of it i'll snap a picture of my boat lit up later tonight.....it glows lol

We have blue under gunnel lighting. One thing you will notice with the led spreader lights is it will flood the whole cockpit. If you were to replace a home recess light you will see what i mean. The light tends to flow in all directions instead of in a cone shape like a incandecent bulb will.