It looks like you tried too hard to make the boat look realistic.. Although Im sure it was a bitch to get right if thats how you wanted it to look, I hate getting real things to look right like proportions on people and stuff..
I mean I ride 20 wide and I like it, barspins arent hard to spin either, you just gotta focus on staying towards the back of the deck really.
I dont thin you should go any widert than your shoulders though.
About the blisters, if you let them heal then they become caluses and that solves that problem! And Ive been using Mongoose grips for about four years of just riding around and a few months of serious riding and they are still great..
I want to ride vert so badly now, I went to a park yesterday with a 8-14 or 16 ft bowl and a spine and channel gap and pool coping and shizz and it was so fun. Im gonna get the channel gap transfer and the spine transfer next time I got for sureee, so fun.