FLAT ROCK — Some of the most spectacular places on the planet can only be experienced by paddlers.

Guy Younglove’s passion for paddlng into the wilderness to explore waterways — meek, meandering or magnificent — has led him to a sideline.

A machinist by day, Younglove spends his nights and weekends making canoes and kayaks. He uses mostly hand tools and works in his basement and garage.

"I build them over the winter and use them in the summer," the 44-year-old Flat Rock resident said.

His handmade wooden kayak — one of the six canoes and kayaks he owns — draws attention wherever he takes it.

"When I’m on the water paddling, people are attracted to the wooden one," Younglove said.

He is using a stitch-and-glue technique to make two kayaks now for a father and son who ordered them. The boats should be ready next month, Younglove said. One kayak frame is in his basement; the other, in his garage.

Younglove has his customers choose the boats of their choice from a catalog, orders the kits, buys the supplies and goes to work.

"People order them from me and I put them together," he said.

The stitch-and-glue technique uses marine-grade plywood as the skin of the kayak. The panels of wood are clamped and "stitched" together using brass wire.

"You can never have enough clamps," said Younglove, who makes his own.

Thickened epoxy is then pushed into the corners between the plywood panels.

A heater in the garage ensures that temperatures don’t get too low for the resin that is layered on the boats.

"The epoxy doesn’t really dry, it cures," Younglove said.

And then there is the sanding — lots of sanding, much of which must be done by hand.

"Sanding is fun, sanding is fun," he said with a grin. "You have to keep saying that."

The boat builder also is working on a cedar strip canoe — a labor of love he’s been pursuing for the last four years.

Strip building — turning a pile of thin strips into a boat — isn’t as easy as stitch-and-glue. The wood strips have to be shaped and bent to interlock tightly, making a strong, beautiful boat.

"I’ve wanted to build a cedar strip canoe since I was a kid," Younglove said. "I found a book at an outdoor store with plans for one. This is the fourth winter for the boat, and it’s still not done."

The canoe is trimmed in mahogany. Younglove even made small mahogany plugs to cover the screw holes on the boat, and steamed the strips of cedar — deck wood he cut into quarter-inch strips himself — using a "plug-in kettle from the ’50s," he said.

The canoe’s seats were hand caned by his parents, George and Gertrude, who live next door.

"I found a book with the diagram for the caning," Guy Younglove said.

Despite its traditional look, the caning work is done in vinyl, not rattan.

"It’s got an old-fashioned look, but it’s made from high-tech materials," Younglove said.

His passion for paddle sports began when he was about 13, living on the shores of the Huron River, next door to the home he and his family — wife Marcia, son Travis, 18, and daughter Rachel, 15 — live in today.

"My dad bought the family an Indian Voyager canoe," Younglove said. "It weighed about 90 pounds; it was a behemoth. We called it Big Red."

Since then, he has logged many hours on the water, challenging raging rapids and rebellious white water or finding peace on politer streams and languid lagoons.

He has paddled the north shore of Lake Superior and come nose to nose with nature in a way most people only know vicariously from TV and books.

That is one of the aspects of paddling sports that appeals the most to Younglove.

When he talks about his canoe and kayak trips, he focuses more on wildlife than white water. He has taken "adventure" trips with his brother, Glen, with Marcia, and with Travis, who is in basic training for the Coast Guard now.

Younglove talks about a canoe trip on Lake Superior north of Sault Ste. Marie, when he and his brother were camped at Gargantua Bay.

"We were sleeping in the tent when we heard this crashing," Younglove said. "We had the flap open because it was a nice night. It was a big bull moose. We looked out and all we could see was his legs, he was so big. He stopped and walked around the tent."

Younglove poked his head out of the tent and saw a moose cow and calf nearby. The bull headed into the lake, so Younglove jumped into his canoe and started paddling after the moose.

"I paddled up right next to him," he said. "Moose are really fast swimmers, but I kept up with him for a while. Then he got about knee-deep and looked at me and I turned around and paddled like hell the other way. I thought he was going to trash me for sure."

On another wilderness trip, Marcia and Guy paddled for five days on the White River from the town of White River, Ontario, to Hattie Cove in Lake Superior.

The river, true to its name, is more white than blue. It tumbles over waterfalls and gushes madly through gorges before it finally pours into the lake. It is not a trip for amateur paddlers.

But it was Marcia’s first venture on white water.

"We went for a week, carrying all our stuff, and he spent the first two days yelling at me about my paddling," she said.

"Spouses shouldn’t be in the same boat together," Younglove said with a laugh.

One morning the couple awoke at their campsite to find bear tracks all around their tent.

"We made 23 portages on that trip," Younglove said. "We saw 60-foot waterfalls, but you don’t want to sleep by them. Too noisy. We camped at one and the roaring kept me up all night."

He talks about ancient Native American pictographs etched on cliff sides soaring over the Superior shore — a sight that can only be seen from the water — and of rappelling with his son up rocky bluffs on an island in the world’s largest lake.

The boat builder hopes a new paddle sport group forming through the Grosse Ile Recreation Department (1-734-675-2364) will be a source of more "adventure buddies" who want to explore North America’s waterways with him.

He also plans to gain certification as a paddle sport instructor so he can introduce others to the vocation he loves.

And he hopes to spend his winters building more canoes and kayaks, dreaming of water and wilderness in the season to come.