Montauk Surf Museum Starts Kickstarter Campaign

The Montauk Surf Museum started a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise money for a physical museum out in Montauk.

According to the Kickstarter page, the project requires $25,000 to be pledged by Wednesday, Nov 26. So far, it has raised $3,425.

The funds will go towards completing the ocean blue flooring and the restoration of the building’s doors and windows.

Rewards are offered for certain pledges: those who give $25 or more will receive a limited edition surf pin, those who give $100 or more will get a first edition Montauk Surf Museum notebook, those who pledge $500 or more will receive a Montauk Surf Museum t-shirt and those who pledge $5,000 or more will receive a surf lesson with pro surfer Quincy Davis followed by a lunch at The Ranch.

The mission of the Montauk Surf Museum, formally known as the Oceans Institute of the Montauk Historical Society, is to tell the story of how Montauk came to be one of the foremost surfing destinations on the East Coast, according to the Montauk Surf Museum website.

According to the Kickstarter page, the story will be told within the context of the sport’s Polynesian roots, but will focus on the way in which natural features, weather, and societal change combined to bring the Hawaiian Sport of Kings to a once-isolated fishing village at the eastern end of Long Island.

The science of surfing, which includes coastal dynamics, topics like sea-level rise, as well as our local marine species and ecosystems, will be a natural extension of the existing installations at the adjacent Montauk Lighthouse Museum.

The museum’s location is perhaps its prominent feature. It overlooks three of Montauk’s (and the East Coast’s) best surf breaks. The museum space will include electronic displays that portray the science of waves; how they are generated, and what is it that gives Montauk’s waves their singular attraction.

“We view the Surf Museum/Oceans Institute as a community resource,” the Kickstarter page reads. “Suggestions and contributions are welcome.”