Man kayaks 1,700 miles

NEW YORK - A solo kayaker's 1,700-mile journey to promote prostate cancer awareness wrapped up Saturday at a Manhattan pier after 54 days and three Great Lakes. Dozens of kayakers and well-wishers greeted Skip Ciccarelli as he finished his final leg of the Hudson River. He had set out from Chicago, following a route that took him through three of the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal.

"I was holding back tears of joy," he said.

The 60-year-old kayaker encountered six-foot waves and potent thunderstorms along the way, once nearly capsizing, he said. Some days, he paddled more than 40 miles to maintain the schedule he'd planned. He stopped at night.