WET ‘N’ WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG:

Another big day in the life of Mike Fisher, the Huntington Beach High School Surf Team member, who last year in September was diagnosed with stage three brain cancer.

This particular morning started for the “Fish Man” at Malibu Beach in Los Angeles at Duke’s restaurant at 6 a.m. as they prepared for a stand-up paddle journey down the coast, 50 miles, to Duke’s in Huntington Beach.

A minor problem occurred as one of the boats that was to escort the crew broke down and was replaced by a bigger one. So official start time was now 9 a.m., with sunny skies, pretty, glassy conditions and water temperature a cozy 64 degrees.

The boys, Fisher, lifeguard Danny Kaihua, Duke’s manager Brett Barnes, surfer and shaper Rocky McKinnon and Big Vince from Future Fins, took turns, 20-minute shifts, paddling as fast and as hard as they could. Only one small shark sighting on the way.

The Huntington Beach lifeguard boat greeted them in home waters with Officer Steve Reuter at the wheel, and eight and a half hours later, they hit the sand in Surf City. Fisher got a Hawaiian flower lei on the beach and was greeted by family and friends and a party — Big Wednesday Surf Night at Duke’s.

It was a fundraiser, as Fish has to take 42 pills a day to combat his cancer and this helped pay for some of his meds.

Yup, Fish was tired, and could only stay for half the gig, but he was stoked he did it, and when I talked with him, he just wanted to throw a shout out to all involved on this special day!

Oh, oh — $20 million-plus in the hole means more budget cuts. Arnold Schwarzenegger could be closing a lot of beaches from San Diego to NorCal. On the proposed list are classic spots like Torrey Pines, Carlsbad, Topanga, Malibu Creek, Emma Wood, El Capitan, Gaviota, Pismo, Halfmoon Bay and Manresa Beach, just to name a few. Meaning, no rangers, locked gates and bathrooms — now that’s a bummer. But there’s hope: They do need a permit from the Coastal Commission to do it, so we’ll see what they say. They didn’t do it last year because of public outcry, but now the state budget crisis is even worse. The Surfrider Foundation is monitoring the situation.

Last week, they caught a 6-foot-long thresher shark off the Huntington Beach pier. Those are the ones with the long back tail fin that jump out of the water at times. They look really sleek and swim fast, beautiful sea creatures. I just wish they would’ve let it go, catch and release. The chances of getting bitten by a shark are less than getting hit by lightning.

We sure need a swell, because it’s been pretty flat for so long. Over and out.

RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.