I believe the o-rings are made of Nitrile and not effected by petroleum products. I’ve been using Vaseline for over five years and still on the original o-rings with no leaks.
The only downside with the Pacific Northwest boats is there are not many around the Great Lakes area to pick from, I found mine up in Michigan. I also agree that the older welded boats seem to hold up better, maybe the aluminum was thicker.
Aluminum boat? On my aluminum boat the kicker vibrates the hull at a certain rpm and my thru hull transducer picks it up and causes interference on my Lowrance. I still haven’t got around to make a new bracket for my kicker, I’m hoping that solves my problem.
This whole thread is really sad and makes me angry! People work hard for their money and choose a boat like this expecting it to be of good quality as expensive as it is!! Then to find out they have been taken by the company with a piece of junk!! Everyone in this thread should be refunded all their money so they can buy a boat from a different manufacturer!! These thin aluminum boats are not really meant to be welded anyhow, too thin in my opinion to get a substantial weld, like trying to weld a pop can. The boats coming out of the Pacific Northwest are true welded aluminum boats, these thin aluminum boats are better off riveted. I wish everyone in this thread the best of luck!!