Barefoot, a 39-foot Grand Banks Eastbay cruiser, may have hit a rock when it sank late Saturday afternoon outside of Edgartown harbor. The captain, Dwight Gesswein, of Fairfield, Conn., and two passengers were rescued by a passing powerboat.

Charlie Blair, harbor master, said the sinking occurred halfway between the R2 and R4 government buoys, or about halfway between the Cape Pogue Lighthouse and Eel Pond. Mr. Blair said that by the time his two boats arrived on the scene, the Barefoot already had sunk. “Its stern was bouncing on the bottom in 22 feet of water,” Mr. Blair said. “Fortunately no one was hurt.”

Thomas Mello, a captain aboard the Sheriff’s Department’s courtesy 23-foot patrol boat, was the second on the scene. Mr. Mello said Steve Smith, operating a 20-foot center console powerboat, arrived and rescued the three people from the sinking boat. Mr. Mello said it appeared the boat went down quickly.

There is a shallow area of bottom to the west of the deep channel that runs between the two government buoys. Mr. Mello said the rescue took place just east of an area known for shallow rocks, one of them is named on a navigational chart as Mill Rock. In that area the water depths can run anywhere from four to 17 feet. The channel depth is closer to 30 feet deep.

The rescue of the submerged boat was done by TowBoat U.S. and Sea Tow responding from Falmouth. Towboat sent two 30-foot rigid hull inflatables, with diving and flotation equipment. Divers went down to add flotation to the fully submerged vessel so it could be towed to shallower water.

“We got it as shallow as we could get it,” said R.W. Henson of TowBoat. Using lift bags and diving gear, Mr. Henson said they were able to make the vessel buoyant enough to bring her close to shore on Cape Pogue Beach, near the old Norton camp, a house and small windmill on a narrow barrier beach that runs from the Gut out to land surrounding the Cape Pogue Lighthouse.

Once there, divers were able to plug the hole in the boat and dewater her.

Mr. Blair said salvage crews also surrounded the boat with oil absorbent material to prevent any fuel spillage from escaping. Mr. Blair said there was never an appearance of a sheen in the water.

Late Sunday morning, even while the boat was being pumped out, Barefoot was towed to Falmouth.