I’d like to get a kayak for my wife and I’d like to get some suggestions. She isn’t as serious as I am, but I’d like to have something decent for her to come along with me when she feels like it. I’m probably looking for something in the $1500 range. This will be for a day touring…larger bodies of water, so I am probably thinking at least 15ft long…but I am not too sure for a woman. I’ll have something in the 17-18ft range. She isn’t going to be wanting to play around with rolls too much, but it would be nice if it was something she COULD roll if she wanted to play around with that a bit. In that price range I know my only choices are probably plastic only. She is fairly small…29 years old, 5 foot 6" and about 125lbs. I appreciate the suggestions.
Kayak for my wife
yeah thats a good trade.
Impex Mystic in classifieds & ebay
You don’t state where you’re located. If around NC, check lynnpeterman (ebay user name)- she had an Impex Mystic used one time along with a Werner paddle, racks, PFD, for sale here for a while & it ended last week on ebay without a bid at the starting $1500. Hard to believe it didn’t sell.
There are several other models to consider, but this one seemed to be a bargain.
That would be a great trade.
Keep your wife and
either get the Mystic and assorted gear for $1,500, OR shell out another $1,041 and get your wife a new fiberglass QCC 400x with Feathercraft rudder OR find a used 400x OR ...
http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=893931
The Mystic would be a great boat (though maybe a bit snug) and would be way easier to roll than the 400x, but from the information you have posted so far, I'm guessing that the 400x might be a better all around fit for her.
Necky Looksha (nm)
Small paddler
At her size, you should only look at kayaks for "smaller paddlers". She'll swim in anything else.
A few possibilities:
WS Tsunami 135
Necky Eliza
Hurricane Tampico 135S
WS Tempest 165
Try searching for "small paddler" and similar terms here:
http://www.paddling.net/message/search.html?fid=advice
Kajaksport Viking
is another to add to the list.
And a Valley Avocet
in Poly. A boat that women (ask my wife) just love.
Options
No, not options for you wife. As I found they don’t come with an owner’s manual either. 
The Mystic can be as light as 33lbs. with hatches on (in K-Lite) but only occasionally found used.
A plastic option my be the Venture (P&H) Easky LV at 15’ x 22" skeg or rudder. They’ll be out at the end of the month.
Hope this helps.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
I’m close
2" shorter and (ugh!) 10 pounds heavier.
Ideas from angstrom and marshall, and similar from others, would work. One not mentioned option, though you'd have to get her into one to see how it felt, is the P&H Vela (used for that price range). It just got discontinued, but they have existed in kevlar and they come up from time to time because they are a kind of nichy boat in terms of size. It's a perfect size for her, narrow cockpit but a somewhat high front deck comparatively so it isn't scarily confining, and an approachable length at 15'/several inches. More important, it's very quick off the mark and up to a bit past 4 knots will outrun a lot of longer boats with the same paddler effort.
I regularly put women into it who are contemplating moving off of a wider beam boat, to get the feeling of what a narrower beam can do for you. The Vela hasn't tossed one of them yet (great stability on an edge) and they always come back smiling even if it is more than they were considering.
The boat rolls and does skills quite easily, in fact if I'd had more time with the Vela when I did my old 3 star test I'd have used this boat rather than my longer one. She's more responsive in a small space.