Why is insurance so high?
I got $0 storage , $1000 insurance

Because crooks in Florida steal boats like crooks in Illinois steal taxpayer money.

FL has year round boating so no season discount and as was said there are boats stolen daily.

that was my low quote and rate via Sy on this site. Geico and other big names wanted $4k+.

You can lose your azz on any purchase if you pay above market value, if you spend wisely things can and should work out much better.

He bought a 38 TS TG as a untitled demo with 1 yr warranty (just like a new boat) for 250K.......I thought that was a steal.

Florida also likes to exclude windstorm coverage (hurricanes).....some policies note that there is no windstorm coverage and you have to buy that coverage separately.

I had a 32 Sunsation with small blocks and a guy at LOTO paid less for his insurance on his new 43 ft F4!

I'm going to tell you right now, some of these numbers are insane. These are personal choices to live at the very top of the spectrum.
Real life breakdown of 99% of us.

Here is my breakdown:

Boat: $400/mo
Truck: $400/mo
Ins: $110/mo during operational months
Fuel: $3000/year
Cleaning supplies and season prep: $500 maybe?
Storage: Have a barn

I wouldn't take advice from people who's truck payment is over 1000 a month... those people are in a different class.

This is for a weekend warrior working a normal work week. Could be more, could be less.

This is with a 33 powerplay, 525 efi's, and a 2016 Silverado.

Like Soldier4402 posted, it can be done at any budget. you can spend 30k a year boating or 2k. All it takes is a budget and sticking to it.

The easy way for dual income people to live the good life. Live on the lessor or two's salaries. Save the spouse with more income money. In a few years, you should have enough for a nice cottage or even nice condo near the beach. You can also buy a nice boat and vacation home on the water by saving this way. Or you could go the credit route. In Canada we have something called a term deposit. You agree to lend the bank your money for a fixed term. You receive some interest on the money, usually more then a savings account. The best part here the deposit is 100% insured. Say the wife takes home $60k per year. Save that money via a term like deposit and in 10years, with very little work have over $600k. You could also buy a nice toy or two with the ones spouse salary, while living off the others. The mistake people make is living beyond their means because one spouse has better income. Managing money is easy. Recreating over again is not.

Stayed with small affordable boats until our kids finished college. Then we went bigger and it's still affordable ten years into retirement.

The secret is that there is no secret. No two families have the same exact situation so everyone has to do what is best for themselves. To really simplify:

Step one- Pick out your dream boat.
Step two- buy it.

If you can't afford it, earn more money.