My first kayak story

I'm sure we all have stories about our first floater. Here's mine.

I actually bought a kayak because I saw a book about scuba diving from them. Guys in California were taking them out for scuba diving. I was in Florida at the time, had just been scuba certified and thought it was a great idea. I bought a Scrambler XT in bright green. Her name was She Hulk because, you know, boats get girl names. She was wide, uncomfortable to sit in for more than an hour, didn't track worth a crap, and there was a constant slapping sound on the hull from even the tiniest wave. She was beautiful. After a few failed attempts with dive gear because the reefs were so far off the beach compared to the Cali crowd, I started fishing from the kayak. After catching a few spanish mackerel and blacktip sharks, I was an addict. I made some rod holders with a 6-pack cooler, a piece of 2x4 and some scrap PVC. I won my second kayak fishing from She Hulk in a tournament near Tampa with a 36" snook, but I kept the green machine until decided to move to Seattle. She Hulk went to a good friend for $100 before my voyage West.

How morbid of me. When I read "first floater" my mind went immediately to dead body.


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I'm a little surprised this topic didn't take off like I thought it would!? 
No matter, I will add my story.
Before we were married, Mark & I were helping a friend who was building and selling composite fiberglass kayaks. As payment for our help the friend helped Mark make a boat for each of us. They were 14 ft long and about 38 pounds with a wide flat bottom hull. I absolutely loved the freedom of my own personal boat! My first big fish caught in this kayak was a hog trout opening day at the Elma Ponds. 32" of pure fight! That fish pulled me all over the lake, laughing and whooping the whole time! By the time I got it landed, I was hooked worse than the fish! At that time I fell in love with kayak fishing and for several years Mark & I drug these boats all over, fishing lakes, slow water rivers and the Ocean Shores jetty. We took them with us when we moved to Alaska where we found a sweet spot on the Swanson River for Silvers!
I have traded up several times since then and I absolutely love my new Outback, but I will never forget the thrill of my first kayak!

Wow -- I know that spot on the Swanson, Seahorse! I think the Swanson is one of the most underutilized areas on the Kenai. My husband and I have been on every lake in the canoe trails, and floated both Swanson and Moose from there. 

My first kayak really might not count. It's my remote boat -- an Aire Lynx II inflatable kayak that rolls up nice and tight and fits in a Super Cub. My husband and I bought a pair of them as anniversary gifts to one another. We had Coyote Air out of Deadhorse drop us on a gravel bar on the East Fork of the Koyakuk River (south flank of the Brooks Range) where we launched an 85 mile float to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Never saw another soul the entire ride. At the take-out, we waited for the plane for several days because of forest fires in the area.  We set up camp and spent those days paddling upstream and floating down, flipping dry flies and picking up countless grayling, just for grins. It was a trip marked by 24 sunlight (north of the Circle), lots of wildlife, and one of those mass caribou river crossings that had us stalled for a bit with mouths agape.