I have much the same story..except it was me that came back after an 8 mile ride through 4-6' Lake Erie crap that made me look like Id been curb stomped by an LA street gang. I was lying on the couch moaning and my wife utters those words seldom heard by a man...
"maybe you should buy a bigger boat"
Ive also come up through the boat ranks on Erie and surrounding waters. 18' Starcraft SS bowrider, 18' Starcraft Super Fisherman, 18' Lund Alaskan..all aluminum. Big enough but when the big water gets big...sketchy and you get pounded. So...I found a minty 22' Trophy Pro walkaround. The ride and comfort...its day and night. Big beam, big flared bow, deep V hull made for offshore ocean. Cuts and sheds that 4-5' chop like its not there. At 22' its still trailerable and launchable by 1 person. Thats the pros to a bigger glass hull.
Drawbacks? Its bigger and heavier and while I can launch on my own, its not a quick dump like a lighter aluminum, so I tend to avoid the first light lineups. You need a decent deep water ramp. The ability to go to small inland lakes is pretty much gone..I can still fish stuff like Sturgeon, Buckhorn, etc but little stuff dosnt work. It also dosnt work well with the Detroit and St Clair river controlled drift jigging. Maintenance is a bit higher..waxing, canvas, etc.
I kept it in a slip in Erieau last year but I didnt like being tied to one port..although I could have taken it out and travelled but I felt a bit obligated to stay there as it was paid for. I hated the mess the boat suffered...Im fussy with my boat...+++++bird crap, full of spiders and their crap, and the growth on the hull and engine made year end cleanup a 2 day chore.
Bottom line is..a bigger glass boat is awesome on the great lakes and if you do the majority of your fishing there, its a great fit. If you like to move around a lot, fish smaller waters, run and gun, then a more portable aluminum is probably the way to go. I access those waters with friends, and I also use charters for stuff I can't get to.