Seeking advice on boat overnight in South Florida

It really IS NOT when you look at the big picture. Inside, the boat 6 months later almost looks like the day you put it in. No washdowns every 1-2 weeks, no compounding and waxing, no diver, no replacing lines/fenders, no mold, no cleaning the a/c strainer monthly, basically your entire cost is just the storage and maybe 2 hours of mechanical maintenance a month.

Outside on the hard is the absolute worst way to store a boat in Florida. The interior will be ruined from the heat and covered in mold from the humidity. In the water is somewhere in the middle, but allows you to fly down and use the boat IF you find the time provided you have someone to take care of the boat.

There's also something in the middle. Look at a boat like a 43' Tiara LS, it can be kept in a high and dry, yet has two usable staterooms.........

I used to store a previous boat for 6 months every year way up the Middle River in Ft. Laud in one of the many yards with tall sheds. Twice a month they used to run the engines but even being in the brackish water the bottom growth was excessive so soon as I was back in town she was hauled & bottom painted. Being under the shed with a dehumidifier in the cabin, except for a LOT of pigeon poo, she stayed nice.

I was also in the Absent Owner Care business in Fort Lauderdale for 17+ years.
(Not at the high end Yacht Level this page is about but during Hurricane Wilma I had 8 boats, from 92’ and down, the big one a true Mega Yacht)

A few observations:

Ventilation and shade is king:
1) If you can store the boat in the shade, either under a roof or under canvas awnings, life is good if you also have bug screens on portholes and hatches as well as a 110 volt fan going 24/7.
It will also be easier on the gelcoat and the plexiglass/lexan windows as well as any caulk that may or may not have UV inhibitors.
2) If you don’t have shade from sun and rain, run Air Conditioning 24/7 and if you don’t have AC, keep a Dehumidifier running 24/7 and make sure it drains to an above the waterline thru-hull.
(I had a Morgan 41 sailboat where the owner put a dehumidifier on the floorboards with a drain to the bilge, good idea if you have solar panels and if the drain hose stays on: It didn’t and the floorboards got stained and delaminated.)
3) l looked after a 39’ sailboat (briefly) where the owner was too cheap to pay for shore power and for shade so the boat was baking in the South Florida environment with the sun and the temperatures making the cabin windows move enough to cause leaks, with heavy rain, the boat’s interior got saturated with water and the moisture had nowhere to go, totally ruined insides as well as rust on any metal and mold on any vinyl.

2 of my own boats had air conditioning and I frequently left them for weeks in the sun with no AC, but with shade and ventilation as well as fans and dehumidifiers: Didn’t really see a difference between doing that and running AC 24/7.

I also lived on a boat in the Caribbean with no AC, but had plenty ventilation and fans, doable, but too old to do it now, and wife or girlfriends will ditch me, but the boat can handle it if plenty of airflow.
(Disclaimer: The above is not meant for mega yachts with sensitive TVs, pretty little silk curtains and $10k rugs, they obviously need climate controlled interiors at all times)

Because it's not baking in the sun all day and 110F during the day and 85F at night with huge temperature swings causing humidity to build up.

A 43' Tiara LS you can fit in most indoor high and dry's that allow you to use it whenever you want.