Cruisers who live aboard boats full time always have a space issue. Many of us sold our houses and most of our belongings, but we still have stuff, much of which is in the way on the boat. Extra clothes, beach chairs, tools and supplies for future boat projects, extra rope, etc. It's all important, but why load the boat down with stuff you don't need right now if you have an MSU. What is an MSU? Mobile Storage Unit.

We have kept up with a couple's blog for several years now--S/V Why Knot out of Texas. He coined the term MSU for their vehicle and it stuck. Ed refers to each of our vehicles this way, and as anyone who has seen our truck or his company car lately, they know what it means. We purchased an 18' utility trailer when we told the house, and Mr. Wizard outfitted it as a rolling shop for all his tools. We have it stored in Clearwater, Florida right now, but as we hop scotch our truck and car to different locations, we still seem to dump whatever we are not using in the MSU.

Being aware of this important need, we watch how others use their MSU's. Here at Boca Chica NAS Marina, there are some very interesting candidates. Many of these folks live here on their boats full time, and many stay for months at a time during the winter season. Add in some of the eccentricities of the Key West culture, and you get some interesting MSU's.

Here are a few samples--not the most interesting MSU examples, but certainly qualifiers. It feels a little creepy walking through the parking lot taking pictures of peoples belongings through their MSU windows so my photo collection is not exhaustive.