I have not traveled there in more than five years, which is a shame since it is only seven hours away by car from Ojo de Agua. I had the pleasure of returning there a couple of months back with Pucha while she shot photos for her 2012 bikini calendar. It was a first class all expense paid vacation for me, thanks to my girls calendar sponsor’s.

Normally I do the behind the scenes video for her to use at her calendar premiere party, but this year she had Bolivar Andres handle the filming. Bolivar is a multi talented young ecuadorian native practically born and raised on a sailboat who has lived in Bocas for the last six years. He is an amazing surfer, experienced boat captain and a very creative video producer. I cant wait to see the final edit of the behind the scenes video he is making, I know it is going to make my previous videos look sloppy.

This time around I was planning to kick back and enjoy the show. But, the photographer Federico Galbraith, the best in his field in Panama, was short an assistant so I volunteered to help. Professional photographers travel with a lot of gear – generator, lights, cameras, sand bags, cooler, tripods, batteries, umbrellas and on and on. Add in the make-up and stylist personnel and all their accessories being lifted from dinghies to sail boats and on and off docks and beaches, it becomes a good bit of work. So much for sitting back and watching the show. I ended up working my butt off. I was down right soar after a couple of days of pitching in.

Pucha contacted Bolivar looking for local help in contacts for lodging and locations for photo shoots. She definitely contacted the right guy. He is captain of one of the most beautiful sailboats in Bocas del Toro, a classic nearly 100 foot wooden yacht named the Patron. The Patron is owned by a young hospitable Austrian named Lucas who is converting the boat into a Panama surf touring machine. The Patron will be touring the Bocas area during their wave season, than crossing through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific Ocean for the south swell season during the remainder of the year. Anyone interested in catching some waves while passing time on a beautiful boat with a great captain and crew should contact them at http://www.panamas-treasures.com/. Lucas volunteered his boat and crew and we could have not been more fortunate, the Patron and her crew really made the trip something special.

While not sailing on the Patron to and from different shoot locations the entire photo entourage stayed at the beautiful Hotel Limbo By The Sea located waterfront in Bocas town. Another Bolivar contact. The Limbo has nice comfortable rooms, friendly owners and staff and a great restaurant. It’s definitely worth going back.

The highlight of the trip was on the last day. The final shoot was finished in the afternoon so Bolivar took Pucha and I to one of the surf breaks in Bocas named Paunch. The waves were not spectacular but they were small, clean and fun. One of the Patron’s engineers, a friendly South African named Jerome Mosetic, came along to take some surfing water shots. Jerome is a globe trotting talented surf photographer. He snapped some great water shots that Pucha will be able to use for her calendar and maybe for more marketing materials. He also got a couple of shots of me that I will enjoy having in my collection.

All in all it was an amazing trip. Pucha got photos for her 2012 calendar, we had the opportunity to hang out on a lovely sailboat cruising the crystal clear Caribbean waters enjoying the beautiful scenery and we got to score some waves.

Now I just have to figure out away to convince Lucas and Bolivar to take me on one of their surf tours so I can get some offshore island barrels. Anyone considering a visit to Panama has to pass through Bocas del Toro and if you are a surfer make sure it is during their wave season December through February, around Christmas and New Years is the best. Hope to see you in the water there next year.

I am a firm believer in outdoor showers. Although I grew up in Florida and am accustomed to heat I still sweat profusely in this tropical humid climate and love to shower off outside before entering the house after working on the property or returning from a surf. Dexter and I thoroughly thought out the design so as to take advantage of the corner of the house and the side of the back porch floor incorporating the positioning of the steps so the housing features can work as hand rails or “lean ons.”

Dexter really did a good job. He painted the under floor structure with the tar we used for the post treatment and plugged all the screws so no rust will appear on the deck and the high water use will have minimum wear on the tar treated wood. A little sanding, water sealing and plumbing and this custom outdoor shower will be ready for use.

I decided to go with a two tank system that supposedly treats the water enough to be later used for grey water irrigation. First, the toilet water flushes to a normal plastic septic tank with baffles where the majority of the sediment settles to the bottom and the “black water” carries on to the second tank. The second tank has a false plastic bottom about five inches deep that creates a space where the four inch diameter perforated outlet pipe from the first tank drains. The dirty black water comes up from under the false bottom and filters up through about two feet of gravel to where it skims into another perforated PVC pipe and drains into the leach pit.

The directions for the system call for a small leach pit where the grey water can flow into another perforated pipe and out to a drain that can be used for irrigation purposes. Since I have no shortage of water due to my spring fed water system with back up well I choose not to have a drain. Irrigation here in Ojo de Agua is not a problem.

I converted the grease trap that came with the system into my leach pit. I’m running all the other kitchen and bath fixtures to composting grey water platanos or banana pits, so no need for a grease trap. I drilled holes into the side of the small grease trap tank around the middle and filled the tank and surrounding area outside of the holes with river rocks and gravel. I sandwiched the gravel outside of the tank in between geo-textile cloth to keep out the dirt. I buried a exit pipe with a cap in case I ever do decide to have a drain and also left a T with a pipe sticking up covered and protected under a valve box so I can know exactly where the drain is in case of future irrigation needs and to be a able to keep an eye on the water level and clarity in the leach pit.

After the tanks were set into place we back filled and compacted the dirt around the outer walls of each tank while filling the tanks with water, maintaining a consistent equal level of both dirt and water, the water pressure keeps the weight of the soil from caving in the tanks sides. We compacted every few inches so it took quite a few days for me and Jose Maria to finish the job. Luckily it rained almost every day in the afternoon so the rain helped compact the soil we had worked on.

The instructions for the system recommended the construction of solid concrete lids over the tanks. Instead, I took some of the leftover M2 panels from the house construction and stuccoed them and placed them over the tanks. I layered them between geo-textile cloth to keep them clean in case I ever have to open up the system for cleaning or maintenance. These panels are really strong and much lighter then solid concrete.

I have seen many people building here with septic problems including commercial businesses on the ocean, friends and neighbors. Tanks have been known to sink, walls collapse and also not drain sufficiently. Some folks here have concrete tanks constructed and many times they end up with a ugly concrete square in the middle of the yard from the exposed lid being to high. As with a lot of things here in Panama I like to search for a method or system where the majority of the work I can do myself or with minimum laborers and always try to leave an easy manner to access and maintain. Especially something as important as a septic system. I hope to never have a problem with something that could be so smelly.

Dexter was so impressed by the system that he decided to take a swim in the tank before I sealed it up. I think he enjoyed his self.