Belize Tragedy

[HowDidIGetIntoThis?]

For anyone contemplating swimming towards things, the horizon is 1.17xsqrt(hgt in feet)

In other words, if your head is at 9' above the water (say, standing on even a fairly small boat), 1.17 x sqrt(9) = 1.17 x 3 = 3.5 nautical miles. This is additive -- if what you are looking at, right on the horizon, is a building's fifth floor, that's really at 50' above sea level, its contribution is 1.17 x sqrt(50) = 1.17 x 7 = 8 nm, so your total distance is 3.5 + 8 = 11.5 nm.

That's really good information to have. But one question...if the building's fifth floor is on the horizon, the other floors must be below the horizon, so how would you know that it is the fifth floor? If your eyesight is so good that you can read the number on the elevator's display inside that building...