Paul, I rarely critique others photographs, but I will in this case. You are right, the image works this way round. It seems more comfortable somehow, could it be that since we normally read from left to right the line of the bank and the gunwale of the sunken barge draws the eye naturally into the picture when printed this way round. Some printed languages read right to left, I wonder if a person who reads that way round would feel differently. If not perhaps something else is going on.
Barrie