go the led handheld.........rechargeable. I have a lighter plug in the boat to charge it if need be?

lightforce hand held spotlights! plug stright in so no flat batteries and super bright rated about one klm think they cost around the 120 dolar mark! i have one its bloody brilliant!

What are you going to use it for ?

If its for use while moving around to look for cray pot floats , pylons or other obstacles then a mounted lamp would be better , otherwise you will find times when you dont have enough hands to handle lamp,throttle,wheel etc.

Power consumption wont be an issue as long as your not using it stationary for hours after hour and  if you are moving the engine will cover the amperage anyway.

i bought an led deck light for around $70 from hayway (but they are similar price at most boat shops).

its got 9 superbright leds, completely water-tight, and i mounted it on the rocket launcher, facing down onto the deck for night fishing. it draws bugger all power, is super bright, and as its got numerous led's, it doesnt cast shadows. pretty much perfect for what i wanted.

If your using it for navigation you'll be better off without one as your eyes will adjust to the dark better and you will be surprised how much you can see when out there, even the best lights disapear into the dark pretty quick and if yourt constantly looking from the dark to where your light is you will have problems espescialy if your looking through a windscreen.

get a  led as they dont use much power and are still supa bright

cheers guys

will be using for navigating cray pots floats, obstructions etc. Also will need it to look for the ramp especially up north where the gps can only lead you so far in the darkness.

Had another thought that i might need it to look behind, around etc so i think handheld will be the go.

Since handheld spotties in my experience seem to only have limited battery, is it possible to get one which you can use while plugged in and remove when needed??

ive got one of them blue ones had the lighter cable chopped and replaced with a screw plug ,im sure led spotlights dont produce a long beam they are more bright non penitrave light im sure there will be someone here who can shed some light on this?

leds are more generally designed for flood and ambience light but depends on the lens and there are also some that give more of a spot. But not like a propper spotlight or your headlamp of a car, theyre tring to work on it and thats why its hard to find downlights led that shine as much as the halogens, some are avail but bloody expensive. Lightforce do awsome spotlights even marine ones handheld or fixed. or check out these led's

 http://www.ledautolamps.com/

we have head lights and spot lights on the haul trucks where i work that are led bloody bright but also bloody expensive! think the spot lights are around the 1600 mark and thats our purchase price! they are very bright but there only rated at aroud the six to eight hundred metre mark!