Water tours of Rockport's coast are available and are the best way to get an appreciation for the challenges mariners faced navigating near Cape Ann before modern buoys and lighthouses were installed.   The never-finished 6,000-foot long offshore harbor seawall (granite, of course) is a prominent and lurking presence in Sandy Bay.  This link contains a fascinating history of the seawall project. https://vintagerockport.com/2013/01/03/the-building-of-the-sandy-bay-breakwater-1894-article/  And this link is to the marine chart for Cape Ann and Rockport.  http://www.harbormasters.org/rockport/zoom/13279.shtml

Particularly interesting during a water tour are the seabirds and seals clustered around Little Salvages and Dry Salvages islands.  

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Although the boat captain talked about harbor seals (with their quintessential puppy-like faces and moderate size), the only seals we saw were much bigger gray seals, whose face-shape is more horse-like.  Harbor seals have been the dominant species in the area, but gray seal populations have surged along the Northeast Coast.  Because gray seals are a preferred prey of great white sharks, their population surge is believed to have also increased the presence of great whites along the coast.  The beached seals seemed almost as large as Alaska's sealions.   Getting sharp seal pictures from the bouncing boat with a 280-mm lens was a challenge, even with high shutter speeds.

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