My partner's estuary boat, the Perception Pescador Pro 12 fishing kayak

My partner's boat, the Perception Pescador Pro 12 fishing kayak, model 9350686031 in moss camo, has done two weeks of estuary mornings alongside my cheaper Lifetime. On price it's the top of the mid tier, double a Lifetime Tamarack, level with a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120 and well under an Old Town Sportsman with the pedals, so you're paying for the seat and the hull shape, not gadgets. Anything this expensive gets researched by me for a month before it's allowed through the door, and this one nearly wasn't, yeah, because the courier left it in the car park in the rain.

Unboxing was an inspection, because quality control on these has a reputation, gouges, cracked keel guards, screws walking out of handles. Ours came with one shallow scrape on the hull and a bow handle screw that was loose enough to turn by hand, and an intact sacrifical keel guard, so we got off lightly.

At 64 lb the kayak is a two person carry from the car and a solo drag on the trolley, 13 lb more than the Lifetime and you feel it on the slipway. The seat is the reason to pay the extra, a proper folding lawn chair with a mesh back that two hours in the estuary did not turn into a back ache, though it sits lower in the hull than the photos suggest and my partner at 5 foot 4 has it on the high setting. It's excellent on stability, I've stood in it in a light chop, it tracks straight without a rudder and it's legit quicker than the Lifetime with the same paddle, and the 350 lb figure people quote before it gets tippy is beleivable.

Two flush rod holders behind the seat and a mount up front hold rods while you paddle and are useless for anything with live bait, so a clamp on holder went on within a week. For storage there's a big front hatch and a rear tank well with bungees, both dry in normal use. No paddle in the box at this price, which is kinda cheeky, and the cheap one we tried first made it feel like a barge. Perception give 5 years on the hull, and a 12 foot kayak in a fourth floor flat is a problem I've solved by renting a rack at the sailing club, which is a cost nobody puts in the listing.

Has the sacrificial keel piece on your Pescador Pro needed replacing yet, and is it actually a simple swap or a dealer job?