My first boat was SPECTRUM 1500 with a mighty 15 HP motor. My first Kayak was a 1999 Old Town Loon 138 for me and a Loon 100 for her. Didn’t part with them till 2017 and bought a Loon 126 to replace it. In 2000 I traded the 15 footer for a much deeper and V Fisher marine Marsh Hawk 165 and I still have it. The last few years the kayak has gotten more use than the Marsh Hawk. Can’t seem to get myself to sell it. I tend to hold onto things including wives been married over 50 years.
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You built it?
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First kayak that I purchased is a '99 Current Designs GTS. Bought it six years ago when we moved to Cape Cod with deeded access to a large kettle pond.
Years earlier I regularly paddled a recreational poly kayak around the harbor and surrounding bay near Provincetown (the outer cape.) But…I don’t really consider that my first kayak, and not even my first kayaking experience, which probably happened years earlier at summer camp or at some lake somewhere. 
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First boat was a Grumman, hot off the press in marathon ny in the late 70s. My mom promised me she would kick in the difference if I gathered the required box tops from this ad in one of my outdoor magazines…. I had teachers and grandparents stocking up on rice for the rest of their lives to get me the number, I got em all before long and my parents drove us all up to Marathon to get the boat. First outing was a deliverance style trip on Fishkill Creek. My moms first and last time in a canoe….
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Yep. Took a while, 'cause life got in the way a couple of times, but I built her. Here name is “My Pretty Girl” and here’s a pic of the maiden voyage.
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My first, and only, kayak is a 1995 Current Designs Solstice GTHV, which I bought used in the spring of 1996 from Seascape Kayak Tours in St Andrews, New Brunswick. I’ve paddled a number of different boats over the years but have never been tempted to part with my GTHV.
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While in college in the early seventies,I bought a used Grumman lightweight 17’ canoe for $135 from a camp in Minnesota selling off their stock. After many local adventures on lakes and rivers (It took me a long time to discover rivers), I sold it ten years later for $135.
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Can’t remember what # birthday it was, but it was a long time ago - Got a Walden (first ? company to use recycled green plastic bottles to make the kayak. Told sales rep if it doesn’t fit inside van, it wasn’t going anywhere - luckily for me, it did fit inside and is still floating very well - only kayak I’ve ever had!
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Like the first post in the thread, I think about how far I’ve come since the first boat I purchased. It was a Perception Carolina in the early 1990’s. In that part of the country, it seems to be pretty common starter boat (Ohio/Midwest).
Today, all of my boats are considerably longer and some are composite.
We enjoy paddling most weeks, summers in Ohio, winters in Florida. What a rewarding activity paddling has been all of my life!
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Started with daily rental 17 Grummans, late 60s, boats belonged to Worcester AMC, had keels, were used in white water almost exclusively, then, found a 16, royalex Indian around a rock on the Dead, used it until some idiot bowman overturned it and I lost hold of the painter, back to Grummans, finally pulled a 17’ 9" Tripper off a rock in the Millers, still have it, love that boat.
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Beautiful!
My first was a small wooden sailboat built by a boat builder in Lutz, FL when I was 16. It had a single sail and looked like the Lazers that are raced today. Our first canoe was a fiberglass Mohawk Blazer 16. Carol and I bought it at their shop in Longwood, FL. It stays at a 3-acre pond, and we still paddle it. My first kayak was a Folbot Super. It was a skin on frame folding tandem kayak 17 ’ long. It even had a sail kit with it. A friend that I sailed it with owned it but ended up giving it to me when he decided he didn’t use it and knew I would.
I grew up around boats. Learned to use an outboard in my early teens. Learned to row and paddle in Scouts. Learned to sail from a book. I currently own sailboats, canoes, and sea kayaks, but only one 5 HP outboard on a 19’ sailboat. Composit boats rock! Some of the first fiberglass boats made are still in use.
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My Solstice GTS is a keeper as well. I may have other boats in the fleet, and some of them may come and go, but the GTS is a keeper.
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These are manufacturer names, not naming conventions to hang a hat on. I can remember when boats like the lesser Tsunamis were called Transition boats. Because they occupied a middle ground between the basic rec boats and fully capable sea kayaks.
Honestly “Transition” was to me a lot clearer than calling a huge array of boats “Touring”. Best to focus on boat features rather than what manufacturers are calling their boats this season or next. Give then a few years and they will change it again anyway.
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In 2005, shortly after I retired, I bought a Wilderness Systems Pungo 140. I liked that boat enough that when I was ready to buy a second boat, it was a Wilderness Systems Pungo 120. I used the 140 for friends. I still paddle the 120.
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Then call them transition boats.
I’ve paddle a GTS, lovely boat, just bit tight-fitting for myself. 3 years ago, when my wife was looking for and upgrade from her Looksha Sport, I suggested a GTS. She was fortunate to find on in kevlar and she loves the boat, fits her perfectly and so much more maneuverable than the Looksha Sport.
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How many boxes of rice did you need?
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I don’t remember but think it was like 5 or something silly … but It was enough that my family still jokes about finding some in a cabinet from time to time. And I don’t think my grandparents ever had to buy it again in their lives. Lol