Ojo de Agua, Panama

One of my favorite places to visit in all of Panama is the Caribbean island paradise of Bocas del Toro. In Bocas life revolves around the sea. It is common for a local to own two or three boats and no cars.

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.

The kitchen in Ojo de Agua was designed with functionality in mind. I enjoy a large kitchen with plenty of space to spread out while cooking.
Dexter and I built the bar and counter frames out of scrap wood cut-offs from around the job site and thick 3/4 inch plywood. We choose to hand make thin slats for the shelves to help with ventilation. Humidity is always a problem here in the tropics. Mold is a constant issue. Closets, cabinets any closed in areas should always have some ventilation at all possible.
Although, I must say, now that I have spent a lot of time in the house I don’t think the ventilation was necessary. The house is incredibly dry. When designing the house I took note of the style of the houses in the panama canal zone and back home in Florida. Obviously, building up off the ground, proper ventilation, roof design and large overhangs are the key. The ventilation under the house between earth and floor keeps the structure separate from the humid ground. The air space gap between the steel roof and sub-roof keep very little heat from penetrating the interior and the little heat that does enter is circulated out through the screened eave vents. In the hottest part of the hottest days the house is cool inside, in the early morning hours it’s rather chilly. I highly recommend building up off the ground here.
Anyways, back to the counters and bar. As shown in a previous post we built a granite inlayed concrete counter top for the main bar/dining area and had granite installed for the kitchen sink counter. I ordered the granite from a place in Las Tablas that specializes in granite, marble and other stones. Right now Jose in Guarare is working on a set of cedro margo uppers to go over the stove, fridge and chest freezer. Once the kitchen is totally completed there will be plenty of storage room and cooking space. Can’t wait!

While I have been busy on the septic system Dexter took care of the outdoor shower platform and steps down from the back porch. I still have to install the fixtures and connect the drain, but as you can see the shower is going to look beautiful especially after some landscaping is grown up around it.

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.

Using the restroom in comfort is one step closer here at the house in Ojo de Agua. We just finished the septic waste water treatment system.

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.

We are working on the floor as of late. This is the second week of non stop sanding. Lenny, with Canstruct S.A. in David, the lumber distributor, gave me the directions on how to sand with a variable speed disc sander, the same used to buff car wax. Lenny recommended multiple passes with different grit sandpapers, each pass a long tortuous grueling process. All I can say is that after a few days in a row with a paint can tied to my ass, hunched over for hours at a time breathing gnarly dirty wood dust, the floor is going to be a little rustic. One good pass and a second pass on the rough areas with the orbital sander and Im calling it good.
Dexter started the process by sanding the porch area, this was the practice area. I came behind staining and sealing. After practicing on the outside he moved inside with the sander and worked for nearly a full week. Now it’s my turn. After a few days getting a nice lower back workout I am almost finished with the first pass sanding. I choose to go with a nearly black wood stain. After living down here a while one realizes that it is almost always either dusty or muddy here. A dark color will hide the imperfections in our sanding and dirt from regular wear and tear of daily living.
Normally you do not sand a floor with a disc sander because of it marking the wood, but in the outskirts of Panama you cant just look in the yellow pages and ask a floor guy to come over with his special floor sanding tools and bid the job. There are floor professionals that live five hours away in Panama City, I have met one of them and he was the grumpiest person I have ever seen. His hat even had his name on the back of it with “Grumpy” on the front, literally, he was proud of how grumpy he was. I prefer to do it myself, then deal with him. So like many things here you have to invent or ask around for some one who has already done what you are trying to do and see what solution they came up with. Hence, Lenny, who has sanded many a wood floor with a disc sander. Thanks for the idea Lenny.
Although, it will not have the perfect finish, you will still be able to slide around in your socks like a kid at grandmas old wooden house. Just remember to leave your shoes by the stairs. Socks or bare feet only please, I do not want to refinish this floor anytime soon, my back can’t take it.
Here are a few photos of the process, I will post more in a week or so once it is all done.
Enjoy.

Here are a few photos of the first few plants I have started around the house. I am going to try to have as much edible landscape as possible. I planted five Coconut Palms, seven Aloe Vera plants, nine Platanos plants, three Vetivers, two Moringa trees and a bunch of Lemon Grass. I am working on a grey water system to drain to the platanos, they never get to much water. Plants and trees grow so fast here, in a few months it will look completely different. We also planted a patch of corn from some seed my worker Jose Maria saved from his last harvest. Cant wait to roast some ears and soak them in butter!

As to keep with the theme of mixed element construction in the house being built in Ojo de Agua we decided to build a concrete bar. The bar was built and formed with plywood screwed together in the living room floor a few feet from where it had to be finally set. It took a few days to build the forms and wire the rebar skeleton, place the granite, glue the inlay, a day of classifying and cleaning the sand and river gravel and a day to actually pour and work the concrete. After letting it set on the floor and cure for over a week I encouraged (two cases of beer paid for at the local cantina) ten of my strongest neighbors to come over on a sunday afternoon to help lift it into place. Once in place Dexter spent a couple of days sanding, polishing and sealing the finished product. Dexter really got into it, I have never seen him so excited about a concrete project. It really turned out beautiful, functioning as a work space, cooking, dining and entertaining area. I can not wait to cook my first meal with friends and family in this kitchen.

Here are photos of the beautiful hardwood doors I had custom made by a professional fine carpenter named Jose from Guarare. Famous for its annual cultural event named La Mejorana, Guarare is a small traditional Los Santos town located near Las Tablas.
One of the neat things about this country is that in many of the small towns their is one thing that many people are good at. In Arena, near Chitre, everyone makes bread and ceramics. In Guarare many men make their living with wood. It seems as if almost every other house has a wood mill, piles of saw dust, scraps laying around and freshly varnished pieces of furniture on display. Jose’s home is no different, he is a third generation carpenter. He has a nice little shop just out the back door of his house. His neighbor does all the finishing and sealing on his own back porch and apparently inside his living room. As with many of the “sub’s” on this build, I got lucky meeting Jose.
Jose “busted out” the Cedro Amargo doors and a beautiful Teak vanity ahead of schedule.
I am really pleased with Jose’s job. The doors add a nice touch to the house slowly taking shape in Ojo de Agua, Panama.

Dexter and I were fortunate enough to be visited by a young architect interning for the Kalu Yala development project located near Panama city. Bradley Luna Wilson came out to the interior and spent two days with us. We toured him around my project in Ojo de Agua, the Super Camp near Pedasi and finished the first day visiting Seth, one of our best friends here near Pedasi that is building his own unique post and beam home. The second day Bradley worked with us on site and listened to our perspectives on trying to build custom wooden post and beam homes here on the Azuero Peninsula. Read our new friends perspective about the area and our work at his blog post at the Kalu Yala website.

Bradley Wilson’s Post on Kalu Yala Website

I must thank my friend Jimmy Stice at Kalu Yala for allowing Brad to visit us, we enjoyed his company and his help working with us, he is a great person and a pleasure to have around. I hope his experience with us here can help the Kalu Yala development become a success.

A few months back while spending a sunday afternoon at our local beach, Playa Venao, Pucha and I were interviewed by an american couple, Brian and Leela Gill, working on a trailer for a television series about expat’s relocating to foreign lands such as Panama.

If it were not for Pucha they probably would have not been interested in me, I do not have much star power, unlike my girl.

You can watch the video trailer for the upcoming television series with a short section of our interview below.

They recently returned for a more in-depth interview for the Panama show. They interviewed Pucha at her house and store in Pedasi, me at the project in Ojo de Agua and all of us together at the beach. This time I think they got some better shots of us surfing. It will be interesting to see what the final show looks like.

Expats Paradise – Panama – v2 from Brian Gill on Vimeo.