VENTURA : C Street Surfing Museum Short of Volunteers

The C Street Surfing Museum in Ventura is struggling to stay afloat.

Organizers of the nonprofit group that runs the museum say they’re doing all right financially, but they’re seriously short of volunteers.

“I just want to keep it the way it is,” said Jack Cantrell, who heads the museum association. “Volunteers are our only problem.”

About 15 volunteers take turns working weekend shifts at the museum, which is in a small storefront across from the Holiday Inn only steps away from the beach. Cantrell said he would like a few more volunteers so he could keep the museum open some weekdays.

The museum, which opened two years ago, operates solely on donations, Cantrell said. The museum association spends several hundred dollars a month on displays, utilities and insurance, he said.

The city charges the museum only $1 a year to lease the city-owned space at 342 S. California St. At the end of next month, the two-year lease expires, and Cantrell said he plans to ask the City Council for a two-year extension.

Everything in the tiny museum has been donated, Cantrell said. Its walls are adorned with antique surfboards, some dating back to the 1920s. Wet suits, Hawaiian shirts and surfing memorabilia are on display, along with photos of the best wave breaks in Ventura and framed posters of vintage surfing films.

According to its lease with the city, the museum is supposed to be open four days a week. Currently it is only open weekends because of the dearth of volunteers, Cantrell said.

Closure of the nearby Ventura Pier for renovation has reduced the number of tourists, Cantrell said.

Ventura Finance Director Terry Adelman, who helped negotiate the lease, said, “They have done pretty well under the circumstances. It’s tough making a go of it.”

Before the pier closed, up to 180 people would come by on weekends, Cantrell said. Last weekend, only about 50 visitors wandered in, he said. But Cantrell said he expects attendance to pick up soon.

“Ventura always has lousy weather the first couple weeks of summer,” said Cantrell, a 64-year-old Ventura native who began surfing in 1953. “When the weather is good, we do good.”

In the meantime, Cantrell is still scouting around for volunteers. Those interested can contact Cantrell at 653-5174.