CORNWALL, Vt. (AP) – Adam Powers plans to do some traveling before he begins graduate school next fall.

The 24-year-old plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean in his 27-foot sailboat, using the 3,100-mile journey from Vermont to England as a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society.

He’ll sail the “Small Axe” down Lake Champlain, into the Hudson River, out into Long Island Sound, up to the coast of Maine.

“From the time I leave Maine until I reach England, I figure it will take me 40 days,” said Powers, whose plan calls for setting sail from Biddeford Pool, Maine, on June 20.

Provisions will include enough water and food for 60 days at sea, electronics like radar, radio and a phone, a 6-horsepower outboard motor, and a lifeboat.

Powers said he learned to sail on Lake Champlain and has sailed along the Maine coast, around Cape Cod and in Florida.

“He’s got a lot of guts,” said Deb Jorschick of the South Burlington office of the American Cancer Society. “He’s got a good boat, he’s an experienced sailor and I think he’ll do well.”

Jorschick said other people have approached her about using sailing to raise money for the American Cancer Society, but Powers is the first to suggest a solo sail across the Atlantic.

“I know cancer has touched him,” said Jorschick of Powers. “He’s lost some relatives to cancer, and he has a very good friend from college who is battling bone cancer.”

Once in England, said Powers, he’ll likely sell his boat and fly home before attending graduate school in the fall.

“I’m really looking forward to the experience,” Powers said. “I have moments when I realize how long 40 days is and how big 3,000 miles of ocean can be.”


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