KISS............Keep those first trips simple. No extra gear. No GPS. No phone laying on the deck. No camping gear. The Idea is you and the boat getting orientated. Don't complicate it with stuff that can go skittering away or floating away. You've got to develop a sense for the boat and what its doing. The rest is distractions.
Thanks to everyone for the input. I find all of it to be helpful. I asked about the gps because I already have one that I bought for long distance bike trips. It was very useful, although I still brought maps and used both methods to navigate. I plan on sailing seat-of-the-pants at first, but I still think it might be fun to bring the gps to see f it reveals anything. I plan on capsizing (in shallow, warm water) to learn how to right it and bail it out. When I built my Chesapeake 17 one of the first things I did was fall out and learn to self-rescue - not so easy in a tippy kayak. I never launched without my paddle float and pump. (I never learned the Eskimo roll.) When I paddled to Catalina Island the group leader wouldn't allow us to go unless we had demonstrated we could self-rescue. I didn't need it on that trip, but on another group paddle I let my attention wander and found myself capsized in choppy, cold water, far offshore. Because I had practiced there was no panic. Pop the spray skirt, slide out of the cockpit (while underwater), retrieve and inflate the paddle float, slip it on one end of the paddle, stick the other end into the rigging behind the cockpit, climb back in, pump out the water, continue on my way. If I hadn't practiced it might not have gone so smoothly.
Im a kayaker too ,thats why the first thing i think about is capsize recovery.i'll be needing to learn to sail my self soon.