I bought a 12' PB in 1998 (old style) and loved it.($1200 -ish, a bundle back then.) 5 hp Merc. Maiden voyage on a lake included my 2 youngish kids, me, my bride, and little dog Sadie plus giant ice chest. Gas tank. Probably overweight, but no problems all day, or ever. While it seems "squishy" or flimsy, it's really very stable - like stand-up-to-fly-fish stable. Handles rough seas/wakes wonderfully; the hull seems to squish and slide through it all. Once I actually took my 75 y.o. mother (who doesn't swim) out in the ocean out through the Dana Point jetties. That's how much I trusted it. Riding solo, that Merc 5 really got it moving, maybe 12-18 mph? It skipped over the top of the water. Very low engine noise. No water-slapping noises like aluminum. Folding open to the launch (due to my mods with many wing nuts) took about 20 mins. Rode on top of my Tahoe, tied down like a 12' surfboard.
Used it until 2014 (16 years) when I sold it while trolling on a lake, when someone yelled out and offered me $200, yeah, I took it! Never any leakage. Bummers: The stock wimpy aluminum transom scared me, so I made a steel one. Brackets holding the seats were breaking, and assembly was hands and knees cumbersome, so I thought I'd get a 12' Lowe aluminum - my big mistake -- loud, unstable; tipsy, heavy. Wife and I actually got capsized by a wake in the rolling alumi! That would've never happened in a Porta-Bote. Wanting to sell the alumi now... and get a new 10' Porta ... BUT crap, PBs today are $1899 on sale!!! factory direct ; I can't afford one any longer. They're now a rich man's toy, if you axe me. But I absolutely recommend the old PortaBote. Can't speak for the new style - read about some unrepairable leaks in "the bellows" whatever that is. Check into it and see if it's a valid complaint. But if you ask PortaBote Co., they'll just blow smoke up your skirt about it.