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Long Island Man Believed Missing Off Of Cape May Coast

CAPE MAY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The Coast Guard on Saturday suspended its search off the New Jersey coast for a missing Long Island man, a day after his sailboat was found adrift nine miles out to sea with no one aboard.

Vincent Tangorra, 56, a former New York City bus driver from Bethpage, had been attempting to take his sailboat to North Carolina for the winter when he ran into engine trouble and had to turn back, his brother, Ray Tangorra, told The Press of Atlantic City.

A Coast Guard spokesperson told The Press Of Atlantic City that the search had been suspended pending further developments. Tangorra's family has vowed to do whatever it takes to bring him home.

"If there's an opportunity to continue the search on our own, we'll do whatever we can to bring my brother Vinnie home," Ray Tangorra said.

Coast Guard Searching For Missing Boater Off Of Cape May

When they spoke Wednesday, Vincent told his brother, ``I'm good. I'm going to make the trip slowly but surely,'' Ray Tangorra said. Their last contact was Thursday night when the boat was off Cape May.

A personal watercraft which Tangorra had been towing _ and which his brother described as his life raft _ was spotted adrift off the coast Friday, touching off a Coast Guard search.

His empty 37-foot sailboat Polaris was later found nine miles offshore.

His brother held out hope Saturday that his brother might still be alive, perhaps in a hospital somewhere.

Missing Boater
Vincent Tangorra, 56, last spoke to his brother on Thursday when he was off of the coast of Cape May (Credit: The Tangorra Family)

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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