Where's Jim? Longboat Key resident social distances on his boat

When it comes to social distancing, Jim Brown is set up for success. 

The former Longboat Key mayor and commissioner lives on his boat, which he docks at the Moorings in the Longboat Key Club. 

Brown does own a house, where he does his laundry, though his mail goes to a PO box. Overall, he just prefers his seaside life, which he’s kept up for about two years now. 

“I just like being on the water being surrounded,” Brown said. “In any direction I look, I'm looking at water. If I look towards the west, where the sun sets, I'm looking across the golf course and that's not a bad view either. I look to the east, I'm looking at the bay.”

Brown’s 72-foot boat has four staterooms, a full galley with a normal stove and plenty of closet space. His boat is meant to be more of a living space rather than a weekender yacht, and it differs from the latter largely in storage space. He tries to keep his possessions light, though. For longer trips or for staying in place, it’s very comfortable, Brown said. 

“It's a lot of fun on a boat,” Brown said. “You can change your mind every day if you want to do something different.”

Recently, Brown got to do something really different to what most others were doing. While folks began staying in to stay safe from the coronavirus, Brown and a group of friends got on his boat and took their annual trip down to Useppa Island, a tiny island near Fort Myers, where they stayed a few days. That’s one way to keep a group of people separate from everyone else. 

The trip wasn’t in response to the social distancing suggestions, but a trip the group plans every year. Even so, as the anxiety from the pandemic began to ramp up, taking to the water was a welcome change of pace.  

“We were happy getting away from everybody,” Brown said. 

By the time they made it to their destination, the resort and rentals on the island had closed down, meaning Brown and his group were some of the only folks there. They were able to stay since they had reservations, but new guests weren’t allowed. The restaurant closed its dining room while they were there as well, so Brown and his group just ate the food they’d brought with them. 

“It was pretty quiet,” Brown said. 

Brown is an experienced captain, having purchased his boat in Fort Lauderdale. From there, he worked his way back up to Longboat Key with a more experienced captain and docked at the Moorings. Since then, he’s taken mostly small trips up to St. Petersburg, but occasionally trekking through Florida’s waterways to reach back to the east coast. 

Though taking to the seas would perhaps be the most extreme mode of social distancing, Brown doesn’t think he would leave his marina again until the pandemic restrictions are lighter. He had been thinking of taking a three-week trip across Lake Okeechobee and down the east coast, but it’s likely not going to happen. 

“With this virus and everything, everything is so unsettled,” Brown said.

Even at home, Brown’s marina is not allowing anyone to dock unless they’re a permanent resident and Brown worries that would hold true in areas he’d travel to. Even fuel docks are starting to restrict business. 

“I wouldn’t want to go to the east coast and not be able to get back,” Brown said. 

As it stands, he feels pretty safe on his boat. He rarely leaves, even to go to Publix, and he and his neighbors practice social distancing by staying on their own boats. Late in the afternoons, they “meet up” at a safe distance with a drink in their hands. 

“We don’t let anybody come into the group from the outside,” Brown said.