Search intensifies for family whose sailing boat was sinking

A frantic search is under way for a family of four who disappeared after making an emergency call that their sailing boat was taking on water.

The man, who was on board with his wife, their four-year-old child and the child's cousin, issued a Mayday call on Sunday afternoon, stating: "This is the Charm Blow, we are abandoning ship," CNN reported.

The man had called the Coast Guard an hour earlier to say that their 29-foot boat had begun taking on water and its electronics were failing, the Coast Guard said.

Investigators used the boat's radio signal and radar to determine the call came from an area about 60 miles west of Monterey, she said.

Authorities said the occupants may be in a life raft or clinging to a life ring. 

"We don't have a lot of information to go on," Petty Officer Pam Boehland told CNN.

"All we know is that there were those four people on board and the two young children, and we're hoping that there is still time to save them."

The family had been sailing a small vessel west of Monterey Bay on Sunday despite forecasters issuing a weekend warning to boaters of strong winds, cold water and big swells, AP reported.