Currently living in NZ on the side of a river Codfish himself decided it was the ideal opportunity to build and ride a stand-up paddle board. This little beauty has been set up to use as a fishing vessel also with a porthole to stash belongings, bungee cords to hold all the necessary equipment and soon to have star mounts to hold a rod. Complete with a Codfish made wooden paddle it is the perfect addition to the on-water toys required for the summer months ahead. Quite a big unit (weighing in at approx 25kgs), but super stable and goes well in all conditions, whether you want a fishing expedition or a bit of fitness to strengthen that core!

A river expedition early this morning in the choppy conditions proved a heap of fun and Codfish was impressed at the handling of this paddle board.

Not sure where this will take us, but we’re going to enjoy testing it out. There’s another one in progress to be set up lady styles ….

At one with nature

Paulownia is a soft hardwood native to China. The heartwood is light in color and the sapwood even lighter with the colour differential between the two not distinct. The wood is without odour and is mostly free from knots. Planed or sanded, it has the feel of spun silk.

The demarcation between heartwood and sapwood is not clear and the wood is straight grained and lustrous.

Paulownia is comparatively soft and light in weight for a hardwood. Physical weight is slightly less than kiln dried western red cedar. It is low in overall strength, but has a high strength to weight ratio. The shrinkage coefficient is smaller than most commercially harvested coniferous and broad leaf woods. The wood dries rapidly and does not easily warp, cup, end check, splinter or split. Movement in service is rated as small.

Paulownia has one of the lowest thermal conductivity values of any wood; therefore the wood has very high insulation properties. Low thermal conductivity contributes to the low shrinkage in use. Compared to most woods, Paulownia has a high resistance to fire and flames and a higher ignition/flash point.

Paulownia is naturally decay resistant and any rot is generally superficial. The wood is also naturally resistant to insect attack.

Paulownia has no measurable pitch, resin or tannins so it is not subject to extractive bleeding.

Working Properties of Paulownia

Paulownia is easy to work using hand or machine tools. It is easy to plane, sand, saw, rip, route, shape and carve, and even during quick processing there is no danger of splitting or chipping. It easily absorbs glue, paint and stains.

Paulownia for Surfboards!

Our Paulownia is sourced locally and not only is it the perfect natural material to make the ultimate board, it could be the solution for the global deforestation problem as it grows extremely fast – up to 20 feet in one year when young.

When Paulownia trees are harvested, they regenerate, earning them the name the “Phoenix tree.” Paulownia could reclaim ecologically stressed patches of land quickly with the nitrogen found in its flowers and leaves a perfect fertilizer to be put back into the soil for more plants and trees to flourish.