WATERFORD — Skip Ciccarelli doesn’t travel with an entourage.

His kayak, tent, life vest and some freeze-dried meals appear to be enough to keep the 60-year-old Massachusetts man going on a 1,700-mile paddle trip from Chicago to New York City.

He even forgets to listen to an MP3 player his high school students loaded with his favorite songs, preferring instead to paddle to the music in his head and watch for birds.

Ciccarelli is a man on a mission, and he’s not afraid to name it, even though men across the country shrink from the thought of prostate cancer.

“Men don’t even want to go there,” he said Saturday morning in Waterford, where he planned to rest for a few hours before paddling to Albany.

Ciccarelli was diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease about seven years ago after a blood test revealed his level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) had increased.

He’s been cancer-free since his surgery.

The tanned, youthful Ciccarelli is paddling on the 54-day trip to raise awareness for prostate cancer.

Although he is accepting donations for the trip, Ciccarelli hasn’t gotten many yet, and that’s OK. “It’s better that some guy go get his PSA established than for a guy to give me money.”

Men need to get their PSA checked regularly, because it’s the increase, not the overall level, that indicates a problem, he explained.

“Every man’s number is different, so you want to get a baseline established.”

Best of all, the simple blood test is less invasive than the dreaded digital rectal exam doctors use to detect an enlarged prostate.

Ciccarelli said 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and it is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.

His website is paddle4prostate.org.

Ciccarelli enjoyed paddling the Erie Canal after navigating three of the Great Lakes — Michigan, Huron and Lake Erie — in his 18-foot kayak. “The canal was a treat after the Great Lakes,” he told Carmella Mantello, director of New York State Canal Corp., as she greeted him Saturday morning in Waterford.

He can travel as fast as 7 miles per hour, a hair over the 5 mph speed limit between the locks in the Erie Canal.

“I’m like the crazy cancer kayaker,” he said with a grin.

Ciccarelli started the trip June 14 and had shore support for the Great Lakes, but now he carries his own equipment for a week at a time.

He left Lock 9 in Rotterdam Junction Friday morning and arrived in Waterford that evening to camp near the Waterford Harbor Visitors Center.

He plans to finish his journey in New York City on Saturday, the seventh anniversary of his prostate cancer surgery. It’s a coincidence he didn’t even realize until his wife pointed it out, Ciccarelli said.

Ciccarelli is a carpentry teacher at Shawsheen Technical High School in Billerica, Mass.

He became a teacher eight years ago after working in construction for most of his life.

“I love working with the kids, and I have my summers off,” he said.

He started kayaking 11 years ago and began racing four years ago.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation has posted his story on its website, www.prostatecancerfoundation.org.