It depends on your elevation above the sea. This is why ships as late as WWII had crows nests in the top of the mast as people could see further from there. And still today the radars are placed in the top of the mast for better reach. The traditional answer is 3 nautical miles which is a good estimate for how far a person standing close to the ocean can see. But if you go up a deck you can see twice as far, go up two more decks and you can see twice as far again. And if the ship you are looking for is also four decks tall you can see it twice the distance again. So suddenly the 3 mile viewing rage have increased to 24 miles.
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