I've been accused of over burning the sky on this one. But I swear, other than my standard 10-20-% edge burn, that's how the negative reads. That band of brightness behind the pier allowed for less exposure for the negative, and deeper exposure when printing.
I wouldn't accuse you of that. I was on the beach with an approaching storm last night. My light meter went from 1/100 s to 1/8 sec in just a couple of minutes.