Bet You Won't Believe This !

[Rattlesnake Guy]

The long views afforded by the beautiful weather this morning reminded me of a calculation I have long intended to do. I have always wondered how much the surface of the lake curves due to the curvature of the earth.

I looked at a map, and the longest potential view I found is indicated by the red line on the satellite picture here. From the public dock in Center Harbor to the point near Robert's Cove is a distance of 16.6 miles +/-. If the earth were flat, it appears that you could see from point A to point B without obstruction.

The diameter of the earth is 7,926 miles.

If two forum members wanted to communicate by blinking flash lights at each other they could get on step ladders at the two locations. If they both claimed to an equivalent height above the beach until they could see above the water in the broads, how high would they both have to be?

On a perfectly flat day, they would each have to be almost 46 feet above the beach.

Believe it or not.