I've never considered boarding to be an issue in over 30 years of doing so. You can just make out the teak step on the outer gunwale in this pic.
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The idea is to step over the sloped gun and on to the top step of a boarding ladder although everyone seems to step on it anyway. When my Gramps was chartering the boat, people stepped on the top so much that it wore through the bolster material. Gramps and I recovered the bolsters when I was about 13 or 14. After that I always told people to step over. I will be getting some pics and dimentions of the factory boarding ladder in a few weeks and I think you will want to go that route.
My views on modifying the lines are the same as Stricks in regards to keeping it original. A few things that I see as potential problems off the top of my head are repositioning your bilge vents... The forward deck drains down both sides. Having not seen the boat since last fall, I don't quite remember how far back water runs before going overboard but you may be inviting water into the boat doing this mod. Also, I use my Seafari primarily for cruising, camping etc.. The camper top snaps in around the high gunwale and keeps the boat dry when its raining. If you wanted to have that option, I cant see how you would keep the water travelling along the gunwale from coming in the cockpit. These pics show what I'm talking about
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I should have the boat in the water in a couple weeks so I will be working on the boarding ladder project as previously requested(sry its taken so long Gillie) so if there's anything you would like me to look into, let me know.
Brandon