Vigilance by residents and quick action by Bainbridge Police kept a leaky schooner from sinking in Port Madison Monday.

Dick Shryock of Washington Avenue first reported the wooden vessel Ky-lo-kirmar riding dangerously low in the water.

When police and the harbormaster arrived, water was washing over the boat’s deck and only its raised stern and bow were keeping it afloat, Bainbridge Deputy Police Chief Mark Duncan said.

Officers pumped more than 1,000 gallons of water from the vessel and the Fire Department provided absorption pads to keep the bilge dry. Fuel and oil were found in the bilge but no sheen was observed on the water.

The owner of the boat, who is not an island resident, was contacted off-island. He was aware of a slow leak on the boat and had installed battery-powered bilge pumps on board, Duncan said. The batteries had apparently gone dead or water had overcome the pumps.

The owner has since taken the boat off the island.