[kamikaze]

Tubsaki is on the right track, but the problem is with the rope lights. Rope lights typically use LEDs that have a very low lumens rating (measure of light intensity). For the application you are looking to fill you'll need high lumens rating in order to fill the entire area with light vice just accent the deck. However, most very bright LEDs are designed to be VERY directional (think flash light) and must be mounted overhead in order to light a cockpit. If you have a t-top or hard top that is not hard to due, but a bimini might be a little more of a challenge.

I had two TACO 12V fluorescent overhead lights on the t-top I bought for my other CC that hadn't worked since I bought the top. Trying to find replacement parts was impossible. So I replaced the bulb with a length of clear sheet rock edge guard (90 degree) from Lowes and used hot glue to mount two 10" strip high intensity LED strips to the outside edges. The edge guard was placed in the tube so the edge or corner point faces the deck so that when mounted form above each light strip is really 45 degrees to the deck. I thought this would allow the light to spread out over a larger area than if the LEDS were pointing straight down to the deck. I bought the LED strips off ebay for $16.00 and two light strip are more than sufficient to light the entire cockpit and they require very little power so there is no problem running them all night.

Kamikaze