SEA ISLE CITY--A group of friends is preparing for an intense trip in the name of a great cause.

Five friends will depart from Sea Isle City Tuesday morning and head to Boca Raton, Florida, where they will then row back here to the Jersey shore, in an attempt to raise money and awareness for autism.

The crew will row about 35 miles a day, mainly through the inter-coastal waterways, and plans to make it back to Sea Isle by August 1, "I’m very anxious, nervous, excited, everything actually I can't wait to get it started just to get all these feelings off my chest and just get it going," said Larry Maher, one of the five rowers.

The group hopes to raise $250,000 for autism research.