I'm with your wife on this one Daniel; this image doesn't do much for me. The preserved wood just sort of looms and dominstes the image. I wonder if getting closer might be more effective as the most interesting part of the image for me is the colouration that goes up to the high water line.
This seems to be one of those occasions of having to decide which is the main subject? The water or the woodwork?
For me, that last image is a little too far. Maybe I would crop the left side to retain three of the uprights and also lose a fraction from the bottom?