WESTPORT — A man and woman aboard a 37-foot powerboat were rescued Friday after their boat hit Hens and Chickens reef off Gooseberry Neck.

Coast Guard Station Woods Hole broadcast an urgent marine bulletin after receiving a mayday call from the vessel late Friday morning. At the same time, the Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter from Cape Cod and a rescue boat from Menemsha on Martha’s Vineyard.

Westport Harbormaster Richie Earle said that before the Coast Guard could arrive, however, the Westport lobsterboat Drake, skippered by Charlie Borden, responded to the emergency call and plucked the two from the sinking boat.

“Charlie was headed into the harbor when he heard the broadcast on Channel 16 ... It probably took him about 15 minutes to get out there.” Mr. Earle and an assistant also set out in the harbormaster boat but by the time they arrived, the couple had been rescued.

The harbormaster boat tried to tow the damaged boat, “but it was already way down at the stern.” They set an anchor, “and it bee-bopped around out there for a couple days with the bow still up above the surface.” On Sunday, TowBoat US out of New Bedford hauled the damaged boat onto a barge. Two days of banging on the reef had totally destroyed the boat’s stern and one of the engines had fallen out.

Mr. Earle said he understands that the man and woman aboard the boat L&L Escape were headed to Florida from the South Portland, Maine, area. After spending the night in Plymouth, they went through the Cape Cod Canal and headed down Buzzards Bay.

“It was pretty sloppy out there, four or five foot chop, and somehow they got inside the (cement) barge and went right over Hens and Chickens. They hit it pretty hard,” Mr. Earle said.

After rescuing the couple, Mr. Borden drove them to a New Bedford car rental company.

The boat was ruined but the owner told Mr. Earle that he has insurance.