John,
I certainly agree with your comments.
The thing is, out of digital, when I looked at the pic, I did not thought about "how this" or "how that". I just let me transporting (or not) by a picture.
But we are in the critic section, so I guess this is a place to put our comments and sensations in all the aspects involved. I saw something, I may be right or wrong. Others might see it, agree or disagree, say other point or say it's perfect and that's the interest of this section. In fact we end all learning more with all the different visions IMHO.
In this case, this is a beautifull pic, but the line presence showed-up to me. The thing is that the sky and the sea are like cotton-wool and the line is straight, and have a blue that seems in another color scale than the sky. I felt that something where not totally integrated. It could be an authentic shot with no retouching, but in that case I would do something there anyway, very subtle.
Regards.