Hi Kye,
Thanks for the reply, I'll Skype you soon! I recon I made good progress myself and exactly the issue with the widget interactions took me very far in the js code. I can't find the documentation, maybe the code in the repository is just a compiled version of the original sources, maybe Stephane knows more about this ;-)
Anyway, as it renders some core functionality useless, I've decided to leave the issue aside and have a switch in the asset service to load a configurable different jQuery version when viewing the site in frontend without the front editing enabled. At least that would solve the issue with recent themes and plugins.
I'm almost ready with a commit to add a new page/layout type, (besides top, content, left, right) for the common <nav> element, which proved to be surprisingly simple..
I'll keep you posted here!