Underwater lights, cool or silly..?

I was surprised when Tim Flanagan went all Glen Beck on underwater lights last week. It hadn’t occurred to me that “no boat owner with an ounce of sense” would drill a hole below his or her waterline just to “make the water glow pretty colors”.  In fact, senseless me has long considered going for the dramatic effect above (compliments DeepSea Power & Light) on Li’l Gizmo, which has become fairly reasonable and easy thanks to gear likeOceanLED’s Amphibians. You’ll note that they are surface mounted, and hence only need a cable hole through the hull (they also purportedly run cool enough to use on deck). But, heck, I’d  consider putting bigger holes in big Gizmo’s transom if the LED and thermoplastic casing technologies reach the right cost/performance point, which is where they seem headed.  Any underwater fitting deserves especially carefull installation, but I don’t think fixed underwater lights compare, danger-wise, to true thru-hulls which involve a forever hole protected only by an often open valve and a hose.  Has anyone heard of an underwater light causing a sinking?  And while I won’t argue that anyone really needs underwater lights, they sure can be beautiful…

found on panbo.com