Paddling eight hours a day for more than 100 consecutive days, two Marin kayakers are attempting to raise a boatload of money for charity by traveling the length of the Mississippi River.

Along with Florida resident Kevin Lilly, Brian Coggan of Sausalito and Danielle Katz, who grew up in Bolinas, began their 2,340-mile journey at the river's headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minn., last week and hope to finish in New Orleans sometime in October, Katz said.

"We're trying to create an event that is big enough to get attention, raise money for nonprofits and make the local community aware of water issues," said Katz, who graduated from Marin Academy in 1999.

The trip is organized through "What About Blue?," a nonprofit established by Lilly that has partnered with a number of charities to raise funds.

Coggan said the trip is less about getting down the river and more about highlighting the issues around water conservation.

"One of the big attractions for water issues is that they are universal," said Coggan, who works as a kayaking instructor and guide for Sea Trek Kayaking in Sausalito. "They're something everyone deals with no matter where you are."

Coggan said the trio will spend time in the major cities along their trip - St. Louis, Memphis, Baton Rouge, New Orleans -Ê appearing at public events to raise funds. They invite local kayakers to paddle with them for a few miles on their route.

So far, Coggan said he has been averaging 15 to 20 miles a day on the river, using sea kayaks donated by Hurricane Kayaks.

Coggan grew up in Tiburon and spent a lot of time kayaking on San Francisco Bay and in various rivers in the state.

"I don't usually kayak eight hours a day at home," Coggan said, adding that his experience dodging ferries on the bay will come in handy as ship traffic intensifies near port cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans.

Katz, who now lives in Santa Monica, said the group is encouraging 100 people in the 50 cities they will

From left, Kevin Lilly of Florida is seen in Minnesota with Danielle Katz, who grew up in Bolinas, and Brian Koggan of Sausalito (Provided by Danielle Katz)visit along their route to give up one latte, or $5 a month, in order to achieve their $300,000 fundraising goal.

Part of their fundraising will be donated to Blue Planet Run, a San Francisco nonprofit that Coggan said will donate the money to build a well for clean drinking water in a developing country.

Coggan said he hopes to reach New Orleans in time for the Voodoo Experience, an annual music festival that takes place over Halloween weekend.

Laurie Manarik, a kayaker with more than 20 years of experience and owner of kayak tour company Point Reyes Outdoors, said there were definitely sections of the river that suffered from severe water pollution.

"There are some places on the Mississippi where I would not want to paddle," said Manarik, who has kayaked sections of the river.

Nonetheless, Manarik said a journey of this length is no small feat.

"They're going to run into some unusual problems," Manarik said. "It's a huge undertaking."