Haven't taken mine off-shore yet. All my use has been in the shallow marshes and creeks.
For the first time in years, I feel like I can move around in the kayak without sitting in the same positon for hours. When I get out of the PA, my hips aren't locked into position. I can actually get out and walk away without doing stretching
Guess, the only thing I can comment neg about is the steering. It seems to be very critical. I am always correcting. Read recently that they put a mod on the PA 14 which had the same problem. Need to take the rudder cover off and check to see if the turn wheel is the large or small version.
With the tarpon moving into our area, will be getting the PA 12 out in the surf. Hopefully, I will encounter the same launch/re-entry experience you had