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With the turn of a key, Courtney Retzer fired up the big 225-horsepower engine on the Zodiac boat, setting out for a four-day, 300-mile nautical journey to New York City.

The wind bit into her cheeks as the hardened-rubber boat cut through the waters of the Potomac River. But Retzer wasn't turning back.

For years, her husband had ridden such boats on his missions for the Navy's elite SEAL team. In June, Petty Officer 1st Class Thomas E. Retzer, 30, died after a firefight with rebels in eastern Afghanistan.

Yesterday, Courtney Retzer and nine other SEAL wives or widows left the Pentagon for New York, determined to bring attention to the losses that special operations teams and their families have suffered and to raise money for those left behind.

"They're the first victims of the war on terrorism, and that war is still going on," said Retzer, 26, a member of SEAL Wives Against Terrorism, or SWAT. "We're bringing awareness to the sacrifices military families make."

Special operations forces, often in the forefront of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, have lost 30 members, including two SEALs, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Their clandestine work often requires secrecy about members' identities, and the women on the trip whose husbands are still on active duty did not give their last names.

The tour to New York is designed to raise money for the Naval Special Warfare Foundation (www.nswfoundation.org), which establishes scholarships for the family members of SEALs.

"They are truly a great group of ladies who understand what sacrifice is all about," Thomas W. O'Connell, assistant defense secretary for special operations, said at a wreath-laying ceremony at a lagoon near the Pentagon before the women cast off.

Scheduled to spend last night at Point Lookout at the mouth of the Potomac, tour members expect to arrive at the City Dock in Annapolis today. After a send-off at the dock tomorrow morning, it will be on to Cape May, N.J. From Delaware Bay, the boats will skirt the Atlantic coast, with arrival in New York Harbor expected Monday.

The team is traveling in a new line of Zodiac boats especially designed for homeland security missions. The women will take one-hour shifts piloting the two boats. A Zodiac instructor is aboard each craft but will take the wheel only in an emergency, organizers said. The women have been outfitted with cold-weather survival gear to help them through the potentially rough trip. A support boat is accompanying the tour.

Among the participants is Marge Boesch, whose husband, Rudy, a retired SEAL, reached a level of national fame three years ago as a contestant on the original "Survivor" television series. "He spent 45 years in the military and says he thinks it's my turn to have fun," she said.

With another SEAL wife at the helm, Retzer's Zodiac whipped down the river toward Hains Point at 15 knots, bouncing over wakes. "This is nothing," Retzer said, raising her voice over a cold wind on the brilliant autumn morning. "To make New York in time, we'll have to go 30 knots."

It was a sight that would have amazed Retzer's husband. In their 10 years together, Courtney Retzer, a self-described "indoor girl," had always been baffled by his fondness for the outdoors, particularly the water.

"My husband loved boats," she said. "We were polar opposites.

"My first thought this morning was I wish I could tell him about this." The thought brought a smile to her face. "He would be in disbelief initially, then driving me nuts going over my gear list."

Retzer's two sons back home in Virginia Beach, ages 5 and 2, will be watching the trip by computer. The tour can be monitored at www.bulletprooftour.com.

On the river yesterday, passing the Jefferson Memorial, Retzer marveled at the sight of Washington by water.

"This is a perfect opportunity for me to see what he saw," she said.

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