That is awsome advise. So you would do that rather than buying the bulbs?

Definitly doing the same thing this winter to mine. Has anyone used those LED Drain Plug Lights for underwater use?

I just ordered two for mine. I have always wanted underwater lights but the thought of drilling my transom has caused me to refrain.

I would replace the florescent tube lights with the strip lighting just for the cost savings and it's really an easy conversion for those DIY'r wanting to save some $$. Regular bulbs will have to be replaced with the LED replacement bulbs. Quality ones will add up quickly. I have over $300 converting all my cockpit, nav, and cabin bulbs to the replacement LED bulbs. I also prefer the whiteness of the LEDS. Much brighter and cleaner.

I installed a blue drain plug light for same reason as you, no holes required and inexpensive. Was ok. nothing to brag about though. It would light up (a blue tint more than lighting it up) the water a foot behind boat directly inline with the drain plug. I removed it a couple weeks later.

I had 6' of strip lighting left over from a speaker project I did this spring, so for chits and grins, I stuck it up on the underneath side of my swim platform with the double sided tape, and ran the wire thru one of my cockpit drain thru hulls. If it didn't work, I'd peel it off and pull the wire out with no holes.
This lit up the water more than the drain plug, and along the full back. 1st pic. Looks awesome when idling around at night. Several of us have done this now all with excellant results. With all our boats backed into our slips at night, we lite up the dock. A $20 16' roll of LED strip lights goes along way w/o the worry of high cost or permanent mounting.