I saw some under water lights in Avalon on my recent trip. Very cool looking, so in my ongoing effort to spend every last cent I have on boat crap I don't need I searched some on the net and noticed most were stainless. I'm hesitant to add more SS to the back end of my boat with the bravo 3 already there. Should this concern me? They do have some lights made of other metals. Anybody install these things? I'm just in the curious stage at the moment and nee some winter projects.

I'm not really understanding why you'd be hesitant to add stainless to your transom. Galvanic corrosion? I wouldn't think that'd be much of an issue with the zincs on the drive. If it was me, I'd be more worried about drilling holes in the hull.

BUT, I can say that underwater lights are about the coolest thing that a person can add to their boat that I can think of, and because I'm happy to spend your money (because I have none of my own, currently), I think you should buy a set of them and post a write-up of the install.

OK, here's a dumb question about adding lights. Why couldn't they be added to the transom so they would be slightly above the bottom of the boat?

That way they would be out of the water when you're on plane, in the water when you're not, they would have zero drag and you wouldn't have to drill holes through the bottom.

Wiring could be run to the transom on the inside of the boat, then through the transom above the water line, then down to the lights.

Any thoughts on this?

Here's a link to a very lengthy thread about them with tons of cool pics on plane and at rest and even on the trailer. Also some great info on color, brand, placement etc. http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/242815-underwater-lights.html

Prober, thanks for the link. There were some installations on there that were done in the way I asked about and they were very cleanly done.

I must be an old fuddy duddy because there's something here that I obviously am missing. I can appreciate having lights under/on a boat that you can turn on when you're sitting still so you can watch what swims under your boat. I think that would be neat.

But in the link that Prober provided there was another link to a company that makes the lights and there's where I got turned off by their installations and uses.

For example, IMHO a boater should draw attention to himself by his boat or his ability to handle the boat well under all conditions. When I see something like this it just screams "HEY EVERYBODY LOOK AT HOW COOL I AM". The link showed this boat underway and IMHO it looked about as stupid as the boat you see running with the docking lights turned on.


Here's another example. This boat was running very fast and was throwing up a HUGE rooster tail. Apparently the skipper thought that looked really cool so he added the lights to make it look even cooler. Problem is, there was nobody on the stern of the boat to see them, so his efforts were wasted because you could not see the lights from inside the boat.


Here's a SeaRay (GOD, I am so embarassed) that's on plane and has his lights on. Again, nobody can see them from inside the boat.


This guy was so determined to get everyone's attention that he not only had the lights on the stern, he added a green strobe under the boat.


Don't get me wrong, I like the looks of the lights on a boat that is at rest. I think that's a neat idea. But when the lights are turned on when the boat is running on plane, I guess I just don't get that.

If I'm off base here, please feel free to toss tomatoes at me.
Rant Off.

GFC, It also brought to mind, why do young car punks put LED lights under a car, it serves no purpose other than for show.
I do like lights under the boat at rest and have been thinking of doing that myself.
Thanks for the link Prober

Mark

They supposedly draw fish in at night which is why some fishing boat trawl with them on. running high speed with them on, doesn't make a lot of sense.

I just wanted a couple off the stern. That is a wee bit of overkill

They do draw fish to the boat when you're not moving. I watched a video last week of a boat that had lights and there were quite a few small sharks swimming just off the swim platform. There was a gal on the swim platform who was touching the fins and backs of the sharks as they swam past.

That would be very cool.

I'm gonna go against the grain here and say that it's pretty cool to see the lights on when the boat's running on plane, too. Reminds me of some sort of spacecraft, especially when you consider the reflections that come off the billions of bubbles and how that might look like some sort of rocket glare or something.

I dunno. I'm a geek at heart. It just reminded me of something from Star Trek. Anyhow, it's not like they only work when the boat is either running or not running... You can always turn 'em off, if you install a switch.

I think on my boat, which has a pretty elaborate fiberglass enclosure around the drive, I could do something pretty spectacular with the lights from coastalnightlights.com. They're pretty cheap, too, only 100 bucks for the little ones.

I second that!

I think it's pretty awesome looking.

Like I said.....I'm an old fuddy duddy.

I'm new here and not even started with boating in reality... but I think you've slightly missed 'the point' those running boats w/lights are trying for. it's not for someone ON the boat to 'experience/enjoy' it's for others seeing the boat pass by. LOL So it doesn't matter that the passengers on the boat can't see the lights while its running, it only matters that they impress the heck out of everybody watching from a distance. That's how I am struck by them anyway.

I think they'd be cool while docked, or anchored, somewhere in the middle of the night while you party or gather with friends, but old fuddy duddy or not, and whether I'm right on the above issue or not, I think they're kind of silly while running.

I generally don't run fast enough at night to throw a big wake to see the lights in anyway. I think it may have a cooler effect when seen in person though. I wouldn't want them on all the time but I might try it out if I had them on my boat.

I agree that some of those pics were a bit "hey look at me", but then again a 90' yacht with a helicopter on the fandeck is pretty much saying the same thing.

The coastalnightlights, if I am thinking of the right ones, was a member of that board who made a set of lights for himself. Then some of his fishing buddies wanted some so he made them for them. Eventually they wrote a thread about them and enough other people wanted them that he started selling them on line. From what I have read they perform well and are a good bit cheaper than similar units from other venders.

Hey,, One has to be able to get to his boat in a hurry from his private jet at the airport.

Back to the original question, what does having stainless fittings and/or attachments at the stern have to do with corrosion of the B-3?