73) “In
1872 Capt. Gibson and crewmates, sailing the ship “Thomas Wood” from China to
London, reported seeing the entirety of St. Helena Island on a clear day from
75 miles away. Factoring in their height during measurement on a ball-Earth
25,000 miles in circumference, it was found the island should have been 3,650
feet below their line of sight.“
Refraction
If the numbers are actually correct (impossible to factcheck), a distance of 75 miles (120km) accounts for a curvature drop of 1.13km. Factoring in minimal refraction (sources and calculations see Point 69 and Point 70) gives an extra 150m.
St. Helena is 823m above sealevel (+ 150m refraction), for the ship let's take a crow's nest of 10m height. Add it up and you get 111.4+11.3 = 122.7km. That means it's visible even under minimal refraction influence.
If you go back to the original quote in Zetetic Cosmogony, the ship was heading for St Helena and it was spotted off the starboard bow. The captain did not believe at first because he thought they were 75 miles from St Helena. Following the spotting the ship he changed course. The fact that he changed course tells us that the ship was not where the captain thought they were. Therefore the 75 mile figure is wrong and the account gives no further information for us to know what it actually was. The Thomas Wood was a 125 foot ship which would make it about 120 tall. The original quote confirms that the sighting was made from the topgallant (the topmost mast on this size ship). I make the horizon to be at over 13 miles without taking account of refraction. I think that is enough to debunk it as a proof.
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