ROCKPORT - Most harbormasters go into the profession because they are dedicated and seaworthy, Rockport Harbormaster Rosemary Lesch said. It's not a job you just jump into, she said; one needs a background of maritime experience, and some of their activities put them at risk of bodily harm.

"You never know, day to day, what is going to happen," Lesch said. "It's an exciting life, and we (Lesch and Harbormaster Scott Story) work well together."

Eleanor C. Parsons, a Rockport-based author, recently wrote "Harbormasters: Dedicated and Seaworthy," which chronicles the past 10 years of Lesch and Story's activities on Rockport's coastline.

When she started working on the story, Parsons, 91, wasn't sure if there was enough material for a full book. She thought it might turn into an informational pamphlet detailing the duties of a harbormaster.

But she found that the harbormaster's file logs were filled with noteworthy incidents.

"There's a lot of drama on the shorelines people don't know about," Parsons said. "The material (from the logs) is so interesting, I thought the community should know about it."

There were six or eight large notebooks describing the harbormasters' encounters in the past 10 years, Parsons said, which were "amazingly detailed."

Parsons said there were three unusual incidents last year that got her interested in looking into the harbormasters' activities.

The first happened to a German family visiting Rockport: a sea gull flew off with the mother's purse, dropping it into the harbor. Lesch and Story rescued the purse, which was still floating on the water.

Another incident occurred in April when a Newburyport woman's body was discovered in a Subaru station wagon that was driven off Granite Pier.

The last was when Story was offered a bribe of $200 from a boater who wanted a spot to tie up his boat on a floating wharf. Story refused the offer.

Parsons said she once asked Lesch how she keeps up with the hard work involved with being a harbormaster, and Lesch replied simply, "This is what I love."

Lesch said she and Story thought Parson's book idea was great, because nothing had been written about what harbormasters do. The harbormasters along the North Shore have similar responsibilities, she said, and they are glad this book gives more information about harbormasters for the general public.