Offshore from Satellite Beach?

wingbreaker

Does anyone go offshore from Satellite Beach canals area? I was wondering how long of a trip it is to drive to about the 8A reef area if you leave from the canals and go up the river to the locks. TIA -Wing

beachsideandy

It will take you about an hour give or take to PC, then I think 8A is about 13 miles offshore or so.
So maybe an hour and a half if you're lucky?

Catalina26

i used to keep my boat on a dock at pineda in the banana side. ide leave at the crack of day light run to the locks and grab ice and whatever supplies at bluepoints marina and leave i would clear the inlet at 8am this leaving at 6 am. so about 2 hours depending on locks. sometimes i can get out there earlier or later depends on the day. and this is with a 27 foot boat with a 350 yammy going 30knots in the river. its roughly 12-14 miles from pineda to the locks. so depending on the day lines in at 8a from 8:30-9.

but on the other note now i keep my boat at blue points so i can be in my boat and leave in minutes not worry about the locks and get to 8a in thirty minutes or less.

wingbreaker

i bet that saves a ton of gas too keeping it there at the marina. i was just curious as I sold my flats boat and thinking about getting an offshore boat again. I want to keep the boat in the water if I get one again. i wanted to see how long it would take. it is not bad if you're not in a rush. It use to take me about 2 hours to get out to the reef leaving from sebastion inlet when I use to tow my boat, maybe the same to the port so it is not so bad I guess, just a lot more gas is used. Thanks for the replies.

Lunch Money Surf

If I remember right... you can get to the port quicker but then you have to go through the locks and idle all the way out... it is a longer ride to the inlet but you can shoot right through it... so six of one, half dozen of another...

wingbreaker

Lunch Money Surf wrote: »

If I remember right... you can get to the port quicker but then you have to go through the locks and idle all the way out... it is a longer ride to the inlet but you can shoot right through it... so six of one, half dozen of another...

Yeah, I hear ya. my main concern is if it is doable to drive from the canals in the boat, and not too much of a nuisance. I guess, from what people have posted so far, is prepare for a long haul back and forth and don't be in a rush. I think it will be fun but not something I would do every weekend like I did with a boat on a trailer.

duckmanJR

Personally, 3 or 4 hours of running time each trip just to get to an inlet....would have me hating to go pretty quickly. Getting back after a long boat ride...then all the clean up...sounds brutal.

If you really enjoy Boating...with a little fishing thrown in... it may be OK..but if you are a hardcore fisherman...you'll be unhappy...oh...and fuel?? I shudder to think about 4 hours worth of just riding.

wingbreaker

duckmanJR wrote: »

Personally, 3 or 4 hours of running time each trip just to get to an inlet....would have me hating to go pretty quickly. Getting back after a long boat ride...then all the clean up...sounds brutal.

If you really enjoy Boating...with a little fishing thrown in... it may be OK..but if you are a hardcore fisherman...you'll be unhappy...oh...and fuel?? I shudder to think about 4 hours worth of just riding.

I'm not hardcore anything anymore So your saying it would take 2 hours just to get to the port or 2 hours to get out to the reef? I'd say it would take me 2hours to get out to 8a if I were to just drive the boat to the ramp. By the time you load, drive, ramp, and head out it is 2-3 hours depending on which inlet I went out of. I figure the money for gas would be pricey but if it is a once or twice a month trip with a bunch of people, wouldn't be too bad. People go out and troll all day too. I don't do that. I usually hang near the reef, drift or anchor. I get bored of trolling so might equal out there. I just want to know if anyone does do this, how often, how costly and the time it takes. As I am done with trailers and trucks.

reelbinder

We run from the dock in Melbourne on the Indian River and fish out of the inlet normally. We kept the boat at bluepoints this year and on average I probably got back to the house done with everything an hour earlier than if we had just run the boat to the inlet.

I use the long trip home from the inlet to wash the boat and pack up. In the morning I use the trip to rig baits and have extra terminal tackle rigged for the day. The other consideration when running a boat back and forth to go fishing are the extra hours you are putting on the motors running back and forth. Even if you only went twice a month on average, that's an extra 50 hours on your motors every year.

I know a couple of people who also go offshore and had their boat in the Satellite Beach canals and they fish the inlet not the port. They don't like putting up with the locks.

wingbreaker

reelbinder wrote: »

We run from the dock in Melbourne on the Indian River and fish out of the inlet normally. We kept the boat at bluepoints this year and on average I probably got back to the house done with everything an hour earlier than if we had just run the boat to the inlet.

I use the long trip home from the inlet to wash the boat and pack up. In the morning I use the trip to rig baits and have extra terminal tackle rigged for the day. The other consideration when running a boat back and forth to go fishing are the extra hours you are putting on the motors running back and forth. Even if you only went twice a month on average, that's an extra 50 hours on your motors every year.

I know a couple of people who also go offshore and had their boat in the Satellite Beach canals and they fish the inlet not the port. They don't like putting up with the locks.

Good info here. thank you.

Catalina26

ya i would burn an extra 15-20 gallon running from pineda and back before and after fishing. honestly you save a ton if you store in a marina at the port. save hours on end and a bunch on fuel costs and or trailer costs. for my boat its $350 a month but as much as i fish i easily by pass that with extra fuel costs and extra time. after a long day fishing and scoring some good fish the last thing i wanted to do was spend 1 1/2 hours-2 hours before i can clean up everything.
bluepoints is great not trying to advertise for them at all im sure any marina would be the same. saves me a ton and i only go in for 6 months of the year and place the boat back after hurricane season to save the boat also. and store her on the dock on the off season and put her back in in march for cobia- august

Lunch Money Surf

Hauling **** down the glassy river at daylight, well I think we all know that is awesome. But it's the ride back that can hurt. Still I think I'd rather ride on the water than deal with the trailer.

Of course you should not listen to me. I live on a canal off the Banana and still do all my fishing on the beach because I can walk there

Bluewaterfever

Don't forget the run home in the afternoon, thunderstorms can be a *****!

wingbreaker

all good points. but i think I'm done with trailers so this is a no brainer. don't have a a boat yet so no worries now.