Endurance wanted to know about rope lights instead of dome lights on a party top:

I have my boat builder making a party top for my boat. They want to know what kind of lighting I want under it. Their standard would be a half a dozen or so 20w incandescent recessed puck lights. Rather than that, I am wondering about putting LED rope lighting around the perimeter. The top is about 17 feet wide and 24 feet long, so the perimeter would be about 82 feet. I don’t plan to read under the party top at night, but I don’t want it to feel dark either. Would 82 feet of rope lighting around the perimeter be enough light?

Easttnboater That is the same size as my party top. You will be able to read with that much rope lighting. Make sure they put a dimmer on it.

Desimulacra I have yellow lights in a fixture similar to what a houseboat would have. These are mounted on each side of the front doors on my houseboat. They attract very few bugs. I leave the yellows on when I am away and coming back or if guests are showing up later.

I also have white overhead lights, and when I turn them on we are often overrun with flying critters. Lastly I have white rope lights around the perimeter, which will attract bugs, but not as bad as the overheads.

I have heard the Red Rope lights do not attract bugs. Don’t know for sure, just heard.

Stmbtwle I totally agree with the rope lights for collision avoidance. I have over 75 feet of multi-colored Christmas lights for the same purpose, but eventually they’ll have to be replaced.

This conversation went on to include some great info on which colors are best for fishing and deterring bugs. Check it out at www.houseboatmagazine.com/forum