Mike Moses

The Friendship Paddle 2011

Every year The Friendship Paddle supports a parent that is fighting for their life. This year we paddle for an amazing waterman, Mike Moses.

Mike's work has always been in helping others, especially in times of urgency. Mike is a 26-year veteran and Captain of the Santa Barbara Fire Department as well as a 34-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Lifeguards. He has spent most of his life learning, conditioning, and teaching those around him to be able and ready to save lives in a split-second situation.

Mike learned to love the ocean early in life. At a young age he and his family visited his grandparents in Hawaii every year for Christmas where his grandfather was an accountant for 30 years. He stood up on his first wave on O'ahu when he was eight. He started swimming competitively when he was 10, and became a collegiate swimmer at Northridge College where he began lifeguarding, surfing, and paddling in the summers at Malibu and Zuma Beach.

Mike was hired by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department when he was 27 years old. He and his wife Pat have been married for 23 years and have raised two daughters. The oldest, Kadie, is married and has eight-month-old Madeline and four-year-old Isabella. Shauna is a part-time lifeguard at Carpinteria Pool and a student at UCSB. Mike and his family live on Rincon Mountain overlooking Rincon and the Pacific where he raises avocados, works on his garden, and has built his own house.

The Friendship Paddle was created around the love of the ocean. Mike is a true waterman and exemplifies an ocean lifestyle to the fullest. Lifeguarding, paddle boarding, surfing, free-diving, and fishing are not just things he does, they are things that define who he is. Now, at the age of 53, Mike has developed a rare form of cancer, multiple myeloma. 2011 is the first summer in 34 years that Mike has not guarded the beaches surrounding Malibu. Instead, he is facing bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy.

His passion for the water and commitment to his community is a natural fit for The Friendship Paddle and with our support Mike and his family will not be fighting alone. We stand as a small portion of the community Mike has supported his entire adult life and TFP will support him and his family by raising funds and paddling the SB Channel on September 24th.