Early beginnings
First of all, let me say that 2 years ago I didn't know anything about coffee, and couldn't care less!  I was (and still am, really) a confirmed PG Tips tea drinker.  Being a regular "car boot" sale visitor meant that I was always coming across filter machines, and then I started noticing the little aluminium stovetop mocha pots, and started playing with them.  It wasn't long before I came across a Krupps espresso machine, commonly referred to as a "steam toy".  £2 lighter and one Krupps heavier I went home to try it out.  Great fun.  I hated waiting for the thing to cool down before I could unscew the lid to refill the water, and the little frother attachment always needed a needle poked in the top to make more bubbles!  But I enjoyed playing with it anyway.  Then I came across a Salton E3 electric espresso machine, dating from the '80's, and had equal fun with that one.  And so it continued until about a year or so ago, when I saw an advert in my local paper for a Gaggia "Baby" - A "proper" espresso machine!  £40 and I was the proud owner of an older metal bodied Gaggia that seemed in good shape.  It could make good espresso, but I didn't know what good espresso was, so couldn't compare the output I got.  I carried on playing with it, and visitors said the espresso was good.  I now know they were being polite!

The big one...
Anyway, a while ago, whilst I was loitering outside an insurance shop waiting for a friend to finish his business, I looked across the road, and there it was...Love at first sight!  I rushed over and looked in the window.  Surrounded by Dualit toasters, stainless steel kitchen stuff and other catering paraphernalia was this great big chrome thing with bright red knobs and handles on it.  I couldn't see the makers name, but could just about make out "Visacrem VX" written across the front.  I went in an asked "how much and does it work?"  "We were hoping to get £150 and it works - leaks but it did power up" was the reply.  I dashed home to try and find out something about the machine.  Looked on the web for "Visacrem" and found the company was still in business.  Phoned them, and couldn't believe it when I was put through to Frank, the Managing Director.  We chatted for nearly an hour.  What was the machine?  Could it be serviced?  Was it feasible to run a 1 metre wide commercial machine at home?  Frank patiently listened to my questions, and then with a degree of interest not commonly found in the business community (especially when faced with what sounds like an over excited schoolboy on the other end of the phone) he proceeded to answer my questions...Yes it was a good machine - A Gaggia GX 3 group lever machine, rebadged in the late 70's/early 80's when Visacrem first imported machines, before they designed and manufactured their own espresso machines (and still do, known as "Fracino" nowadays).  Frank told me that there wasn't much that could go wrong on these machines, and what did go wrong could be fixed for less than £40 usually.  I could run it at home, with some creative wiring as it consumed 3.7kw/220v, and even how to minimize power consumption by lagging (insulating) the machine.

It's all systems go...
After all this information, I was desperate to rush back whilst the machine was still there! (As if it was likely someone else was going to pop in and pick it up!).  A quick call to my friend and neighbour, Jeff, with his Coke coloured VW van, and we were off.  Actually, off to Jeff's cashpoint machine, as I was broke that week!  Went back to the shop, it's still there!  Chatted for a while with the owner who expressed amazement that I wanted it, and made comments like "You can't really run that thing at home" and "I know I said it works, but that was a generalisation" etc.  Haggled down to £120 and lugged it to the van.  This thing is heavy!

What can possibly go wrong?
When we got the Gaggia home, we ignored all commonsense and wired a twin 13 amp plug setup, and thought what the hell, I've got circuit breakers, so we plugged it in after a cursory check of the inside.  Switched it on...Smoke and a bang.  Tried that a few times, before we saw that the main power relay was touching the side of the machine!  Unscrew it from the rail and slide it along.  Retighten and try again...Success!  Now we waited a while to see what would happen, peering at the pressure gauge on the front of the machine.  After a little while I noticed water dripping.  Then more water.  Then even more.  It was dripping from everywhere!  All groups, both steam wands, the water wand, and the little holes at the rear of each group!  This meant that it never quite reached any decent pressure, so we tried it a few times to wet the gaskets, and slowly the drips lessened.  Once hot, the drips slowed right down.  We just needed a sink plug inserted in one of the group portafilters to stem the flow until the machine was up to temperature!  After a while we got it so that it happily reached 1.2 bar and quietly did it's job, cycling on and off occasionally.  On the phone to Frank again...Seals are available, and cheap.  And if the wands don't stop leaking Frank says he can re-machine the valve seats!  I then realised that the seals Frank was describing were sitting in a little plastic bag with the machine!  That sorted the wand seals.  I found a local espresso service man, who said he wasn't frightened of a great big lever Gaggia, and that for £70 he would call out and replace all the group seals.  He was diligent, did everything, and only charged £60!  I now had a fully functioning machine, which when lagged according to Franks' advice cost about 60 pence a day to leave on 24/7 - and it's still on.

I know how to make espresso...
I was happily making espresso and cappuccino drinks, that my friends said were fine, but I decided that I really needed to learn the art, so went searching on the 'net again.  I found Alt.Coffee in the newsgroups (Usenet), and started making new friends there.  What an education!  Grinder?  Tamper?  Shot times? Temperature?  Pressure?  So many questions!  Enter a new friend - Ken.  Ken subscribed to Alt.Coffee, and we found out that he lived a few miles from me.  He very kindly offered to pop in on the way home from work one day, and tackle the lever machine (he'd not used one before).  One evening Ken arrives with a box of goodies - beans, grinders etc. and sat down to watch me make an espresso my "usual" way - bung the ground coffee in, pull the lever down, and raise it when I have some brown liquid.  He watched this process a few times before announcing that, in his opinion, we were doing it wrong!  The down stroke on the lever isn't supposed to produce the shot - the upstroke is!  What I need, he says, is properly ground coffee!  And I need to tamp it.  What's a tamp?  What's a tamper?  Ken shows me.  After experimenting with different grind settings it starts to come together, like a slow realisation dawning...A shot of 25-30 seconds, with thick brown liquid oozing forth, thick, Guiness-like crema, and the perfect double!  (well, at the time it was!)  We tasted a few, and finely tuned the grinder some more.  Then Ken went home, with his grinders!  He very kindly left me some freshly roasted beans (he roasts his own?  how quaint! - more later!), and was going to lend me a grinder (Gaggia MM) but said that this grinder wouldn't be suitable for espresso anyway.  So it was for me to find a new grinder.

OK, I didn't know...
In an attempt to get correctly ground coffee, I popped into my local Italian restaurant, where I persuaded the owner to grind a kilo of Lavazza beans he sells.  As he also has a lever Gaggia, we used the same grind.  He was very kind and we sat there consuming espresso's and some pasta for 25 minutes whilst his lovely old grinder did it's job, periodically operating the doser to empty it.  Raced home with my coffee to try it...  Funny things, these espresso machines!  What works fine in one Gaggia doesn't in mine!  The shots raced through in 10-15 seconds.  Blast!  In the following days, I researched grinders, and whilst in my local 2nd hand commercial catering supplies shop (where I was given a tray load of Lavazza and other branded espresso and cappuccino cups for a fiver!) I came across a conical burr grinder, called an Iberital, brand new in the box, which sells for £120.  I grabbed one and went home happy.  It turned out to be a lovely little grinder, if not particularly "commercial" in build quality.  It was very easy to use, and I soon had it setup for the Gaggia.  I then found a local Italian supplier of produce to the restaurant trade, who sells an "espresso blend" by the Kilo, and I found I actually liked it.  Bought 12 kilos!!!  (It was cheaper that way)...

So what have I learned so far?
General consensus is (or mine is, anyway) that an espresso (double) is produced by following a (generalised) set of variables:

1.75 - 2 oz water at 85-90 degrees forced through 14 grammes of coffee ground and tamped in such a way that with 9 bar of pressure it takes 25-30 seconds to produce the shot.

Grinding Success
This is why my earlier attempts with a steam machine failed.  This is also why, even with the Gaggia Baby I failed, because I didn't know the variables.  By far the most important thing after the beans is the grinder.  Even the most basic pump machine can produce perfectly good espresso with the addition of a decent burr grinder.  Not a blade grinder.  A burr grinder.  Blade grinders hack the beans into uneven pieces that aren't uniform in size, and create lots of dust, not ideal for our espresso puck.  Some low end burr grinders aren't much better in that area.  So it can be a decent flat burr grinder or a conical burr grinder, and the consensus is that at the highest level a conical burr set is slightly better, and a slower grind speed is better (doesn't heat the coffee so much during grinding).  It can even be a manual grinder, if you have the energy for it.  The top end commercial grinders have conical burrs and grind at 800rpm approx, rather than the 1200/1300rpm or so some other grinders operate at.  For home use there is an assortment of grinders available, such as the Gaggia MDF, the Rancillio Rocky, The Starbucks branded grinders, and plenty of others, but I'm a professional (not), with a giant espresso machine, so the urge to get a giant grinder sets in!  (Later).  Together with tamping, the correct grind ensures that the hot water is in contact with the coffee for the optimum extraction time -  it is desirable to neither under or over extract the coffee, to find the "sweet spot" that is the mission of all would-be baristas, so that bitterness etc are not present.

The Grunt...
In addition to the grind, tamping rears it's head.  My "self-learned" view here is slightly at odds with the consensus.  Some professionals state that you need something better than the plastic tamper that ships with most domestic machines, and that you need to tamp with a force of 30-50lbs.  My own view is that in all my travels throughout Europe I've never seen a barista use that sort of force, and if they did, RSI would be a real risk in a busy cafe environment.  By adjusting the grind it's possible to use far less tamping force, and the key here is consistency.  The whole point of espresso (apart from drinking it, of course!) is to manage the variables.  If we assume that our espresso machine can deal with the temperature and force of the hot water (and in the case of my lever machine and superautos, the quantity of water too), then we need concern ourselves with the bean, grind and tamp.  If we find a tamp pressure that feels comfortable, be that 15lbs or 50lbs, that's fine - just stick with it.  (It's often remarked on the coffee newsgroup that practicing on bathroom scales to get the feel of this kind of pressure is a good idea).  Once the tamp pressure has been consistently practiced, the only variable left is grind fineness!  By making it this far, I am now only concerned with the freshness of my beans and the slight grind adjustments necessary to counteract things like humidity changes, that affect the shot time.  (Whoops, I'm beginning to sound far too serious here!)

The bean...and popcorn
Now that I was happy with everything else, my thoughts turned to popcorn, or popcorn popping to be precise!  According to the newsgroup there's nothing like the taste of home roasted coffee, and there's nothing like the fun of roasting coffee using a £10 popcorn popper!  The freshness of the bean is important in espresso (actually, probably all brew methods) and the freshness of the ground coffee even more so - the amount of crema present on an espresso varies tremendously with the freshness aspect, and roasted beans last a few weeks at most, ground coffee a matter of hours.  I resisted this roasting and blending thread that keeps recurring on Alt.Coffee, but after a while they do start to wear you down.  One of the contributors, Madeleine, posted her first roasting experience with a popper, and it made me laugh so much I had to experience it for myself.  With permission, here is Madeleines' first roasting experience, quoted directly from her article posted in Alt.Coffee:

"Real on-topic semi-technical roasting comments and questions are in a separate post, to spare those of you who might not want to wade through the story of my slightly disaster-prone lurch through Roasting 101.

That said, I must admit I'm having an almost indecent amount of fun with the coffee roasting bidness. A week or so back, an immensely kind a.c. regular went out and scored a Poppery (a Poppery I, no less), quite unbidden, and even did the modification so you can keep the beans moving without any heat. Then yesterday my grinder arrived. So here I am with my eight little sample packages of SweetMaria green beans, some strange and exotic beans from the Poppery Pal, and some Kona green beans from SmithFarms. (Wow. Those macadamia nuts. Wow.)

Virtually every site I visited in search of roasting info suggest keeping a roasting journal. Thought I'd share the first few entries in mine.

1. Rule 1 is that a neophyte roaster shouldn't try to do anything else while roasting beans. Otherwise, if she were *really* stupid, she might inadvertently drop her favourite reading glasses into the washing machine with the sheets and pillowcases. You have no idea how long you can hunt for reading glasses *before* it occurs to you to look for them in the washing machine. [1]

2. Rule 2 is that a neophyte roaster shouldn't try to do anything else while roasting beans. If she were slowly cooking a pan of rosti potatoes, for instance, the gentle burbling of the butter and potatoes might well sound awfully like that Rice Krispies sound that's supposed to be second crack...

3. Rule 3 is that a neophyte roaster should check out how her machine works *before* embarking on first roast. Otherwise, if she were *really* stupid, she might not realise you have to have the fan thingie turned on as well as the heating element, and would stand over the coffee, peering anxiously, waiting for it to *move*. Interesting result, when this error is discovered 1.15" into a roasting cycle. You have a layer of beans that are cooked to Spanish roast (Spanish Inquisition roast, actually), and a larger layer that is hardly roasted at all. Judicious picking out of blackened beans is recommended.

4. Rule 4 is that a neophyte roaster should invest in a torch (flashlight). It's absolutely impossible to see the colour of those beans
while they're whirling around in the Poppery without unbelievably strong light. Especially if your glasses are in the rinse cycle.

Madeleine "this house smells *wonderful*" Page

[1] If there is an a.c. reader who has been looking for a monocle, I'm now
in a position to help him or her out. Actually, if *two* a.c. readers have
been looking for monocles, I'm in a position to help them out. "
 

So it's off round the shops to find a Popper.  Consensus is that whilst most poppers will do the job, ideally the sort with the vents round the side, rather than in the bottom of the popper, are best suited.  That means a "Prima" popper or similar here in the UK (and probably Europe) and a West Bend Poppery I or II in the U.S.  Other poppers are used with great success too, and there are always people hunting for the West Bend Poppery I, as it was apparently built like a tank.  There are sites that describe how to modify a popper for more consistant heat output etc, if desired, that can be found with a Google/Yahoo newsgroup search, along with interesting info on methods of smoke extraction if required.  I find a Prima, buy some Kenyan AA green beans (virtually impossible to find any green beans in the local shops) and set off home to play.  What follows is my post to the newsgroup at the time on my first attempt:

"I got back at 16:00 clutching my Prima popper, fresh from Debenhams (at a non-competitive price - more on that later), and I'm sitting here at 16:24 with a capo made with the first attempt.  Not Scientific, no measurements or timings, as such, to report, sorry, just my first roast.

16:00 Unpack popper and set on counter
16:00:30 Read instructions
16:00:32 Find only green beans I could buy locally (Kenya AA)
16:01 Bung approx 1 handful in popper and switch on
16:01:05 Bung more beans in, as they are rotating fast
16:01:08 Ditto
16:01:10 Ditto
16:01:12 Ditto
16:01:15 Beans now very slowly rotating/burping, and quite full - "There may be trouble ahead"
16:something - Beans slowly changing colour, fairly evenly too.
16:-oh forget it, who's counting - beans darkening nicely, and rising up chamber, some exit with the chaff...Lots exit with the chaff
Bung some of them back in.  Don't know how long it's been - about 4 to 5 minutes, but beans are now quite dark, and slightly oily, possibly a little late - time to stop and cool them.  No chaff collector in place (didn't have time).  No waiting receptacle (ditto).  No cooling system (ditto).  Grab 2 saucepans (can't find colander) and empty popper.  Beans look very dark, with some slight variance in colour, but pretty even, and none actually black or burnt (phew!!).  Run outside and start transferring beans from one pan to the other.  Virtually no chaff!  Now to store them?  What in?  Find an airtight Jar.  Weigh results first - just over 80 grammes.  Is that a good amount?

Can't resist trying them today, actually, make that now.  Empty grinder of beans and stuff chopstick up exit chute.  Grind some beans (still slightly warm, this could be bad)...Make a double espresso - looks OK - slightly lighter crema than usual, but loads of it.  Steam some milk in case it's really bad.  Try the espresso neat - drinkable, slightly "tart", I don't think I'll like Kenya AA in espresso.  Convert to Cappa and here we are.  It's not bad, actually drinkable.  See what it's like tomorrow...

I didn't smoke the house out (although I did this in the kitchen), didn't even cover the place in chaff!  So now I'm looking for green
beans in the area (UK).  I must try and be a bit more scientific in my approach next time...

OK, so I ignored all the advice ever given here (didn't really pay attention, nothing like learning the hard way).  I probably didn't cool
them quickly or thoroughly enough, I probably slightly over roasted them, and I didn't keep any notes at all (apart from this one),  and I definitely shouldn't be drinking the results now, but I'll learn!  For those in the UK - I ended up buying the Prima popper in Debenhams, as there were no other local suppliers I could find.  Tempo electrical retail superstore had a Hinari in, but as I didn't know what the Prima looked like, or the Hinari's wattage, and the fact that it said "don't operate for more than 3 minutes" - I went to Debenhams.  The popper there was £15, covered in dust, and non-negotiable.  The lady on the till said that if I got the Debenhams credit card, I got a 10% discount, so I did.  I then had to go to another floor/department to pay off the credit card (I'm not paying 28% APR, thank you), but the benefit is firstly the 10% discount, and secondly I get the difference refunded if the price drops in the next 2 months, and Debenhams have a sale next month, so it might get cheaper."

And a little later, when I had got more used to the fun, with Ken's assistance:

"Hi chaps and chapess'es...

I am very fortunate that Ken W drives past my house on the way to and from work -  he answered my plea for something better to play with the popper than my only green beans - Kenya AA, by popping in tonight with some Sumatra Lingstong and some Colombian San Bartolo!  Lucky me!  Woohoo I think you say over there?  After looking long and hard at my first attempt with the Kenyan (and
eating the stuff?) he pronounced it not quite over roasted, and suitable for including in small quantities to the goodies he bought.  A couple of espresso's later (and not my best - why does that always happen when you have a witness present?), and we fired up the popper to roast some of theColombian.  This time we didn't try and stuff as many beans in as possible aka my first attempt - a mere 40 grammes, and let the popper rip.  Far more organised than yesterday - I distinctly heard 1st crack,  and we prodded them a little and tipped them out just into 2nd crack.  Yesterday my overloaded little popper was making so much noise chucking beans about that I didn't notice *any* crack apart from the one the beans were trying to make in the popper's lid.  Cooled them a little, and Ken said that I should roast slightly less (2/3?) of the Sumatran, and then blend the two with a little of the Kenyan.  Off he went for his well deserved supper, and I got on with the 2nd batch (Sumatra).  Just into 2nd crack, cooled and blended as he recommended.  I didn't stop it as expertly as Ken had, so my roast is a little darker.  I can't wait for tomorrow to try my first blend!

I'm still surprised at how civilised this popper roasting is - very little mess, hardly any smoke, all over in 10 minutes.  Thanks Ken, and all others who planted the seeds of home roasting in me, not least Madeleine, who's first attempt made a good motivation to try it."

So the end result is that I generally roast my own (but not always - I'm lazy), and a popper is a great way to start on the home roasting ladder.  Actually, there aren't many reasons to move from a popper.  Whilst there are some "real" roasters out there - the Hearthware Precision and the AlpenRoast are popular, together with the Freshroast, they cost upwards of £120 to £240 (the Freshroast may be a little less, I don't know), but at the end of the day they all roast beans, with varying degrees of automation and controllability.  "You pays your money and takes your choice".  Now that we're home roasting, the doors have opened into a whole new world of beans!  Different varieties from different Continents, blending, espresso base, highlights, finish, "full City" - all this and more are yours for the taking, along with almost unfathomable permutations of pre- and post- roast blending!  Search out the newsgroup for various contributions to the blending discussions, and look for sites that sell green beans and give helpful advice on varieties and blending, such as "SweetMarias" in the U.S and "Hill and Valley" here in the UK - search the web for green beans!

Do I really have to clean up?
Not being a particularly hygienic, house proud, single person, I've never rated hygiene that highly.  However, in Espresso-land it turns out that it's quite important.  By trial and error I've found that not cleaning the Gaggia leads to swiftly deteriorating espresso.  The first thing that goes is crema, followed by flavour.  So now I try and be at least a little house proud, and wash the portafilters daily.  Once a week or so, the portafilters get an overnight soak in a specialist espresso cleaner (Puro Caff), although there are several manufacturers of cleaning powders for espresso machines.  And the Gaggia groupheads get a helping of this stuff too.  I can't backflush the Gaggia, so I put a semi blind filter insert in (a piece of plastic cut to fit the bottom of the coffee basket), a couple of teaspoons of cleaner, and do the portafilter wiggle (as Ken puts it) - place the portafilter in place, loosely, and pull the lever, whilst manually varying the degree of tightness of the portafilter.  This gives the grouphead seal and the showerhead a good clean, whilst allowing the pressure to pass through, so as not to damage the grouphead.  Machines with 3-way solenoid valves can be flushed with a blind insert (a basket with no holes), as the pressure buildup will be released through the 3-way valve.  Most espresso machine manufacturers don't recommend this practice, but most people do it.  Your choice, your responsibility.  Definitely DON'T try this unless you are sure that your machine has a 3-way valve.

That's it for the moment.  There's still stuff to be written, and don't gorget that espresso is not the only fun way to enjoy coffee.  I have an increasing collection of vacuum brewers etc that are great too.  and the Cafetiere (press pot) is a quick simple way to enjoy your coffee.  It all boils down to extraction of coffee at the appropriate temperature, with the appropriate brewing time.  As Ken says at the end of the unnoficial FAQ he posts most weeks to Alt.Coffee - "Remember, you can also make superb coffee with a jug and teastrainer."

Footnote 1 - Grinders, part II
I was chatting to Frank recently at Visacrem, and he remarked that having looked at my Gaggia page he was surprised to see that I was using the Iberital grinder - why hadn't I bought a grinder from him?  I felt a little embarassed whilst explaining that I would love to, but he only sells big commercial grinders and they are out of my price league.  Frank kindly offered me a new commercial grinder (Fracino T3, pictured elsewhere on this site) for a price that made it affordable for me.  I'm still amazed at the kindness of some people I meet in the commercial world, who unlike most, aren't totally interested in chasing the last ounce of profit.  Anyway,  I sat at home waiting for the new grinder, and after remarking on the group that the Iberital was available cheaply to a good home, Elliot (another of the UK contingent on Alt.Coffee) emailed me.  We agreed price and delivery, but I had to wait for the replacement before I could send the Iberital.  A short while later I visited a local green bean supplier who's main business is supplying and maintaining commercial equipment.  We discussed green bean availability, and the conversation somehow turned to grinders.  He showed me all the grinders they supply from the biggest Cunill and others down to semi-commercials and even a couple of Iberitals.  He remarked that the Iberitals are used as temperary replacement grinders when a cafe is waiting for a repair etc, and that they actually cope well with light commercial demands.  One of the other grinders I was shown was a new Bregant, which seemed to me like a Rocky challenger, and after negotiating a price, I took it home.  (The idea was that with this temporary replacement I could get the Iberital off to Elliot) to save him waiting.  Elliot received the Iberital, and I hope he's as happy with it as I was, and I set about dialling in the Bregant.  For some reason I just couldn't get it right and in the time it took for the Fracino grinder to arrive I never did get it right.

One day, a knock at the door, and a great big box appeared!  I hurredly signed for it and lugged it into the kitchen.  I ripped it open like a kid with a Xmas present, and found the manual.  Great - it's in English, and comprehensive too!  I decided to study it first (rare in this house) before setting the grinder up.  Once done I quickly dialled it in to the Gaggia, and was producing shots within half an hour.  So at the moment I'm very happy with this setup!  Thanks, everyone!

If you wander round my site, you'll find pictures of the Gaggia GX, the grinders mentioned here, along with some mocha pots, and the results of my later searches, where I came across some lovely Cona vacuum brewers and an old Bodum Santos.

I obviously can't mention all those that I am grateful to for their little nuggets of information and assistance given in Alt.Coffee, oh, alright, I can really:

Helen Elliot Shane Trevor Stuart Ed Ken Wilson Brian Margaret Matthias Rick Mark (CoffeeKid) Vini David B Aaron Matthew DanDoll Terry Montague Meister Marty Lorne Foster Glenn R. Holmes Ken Glenn Anthony R HV Patrick Elizabeth Rene vSta Ewen Rob VL David R Ron Cea Tim Lee Martin Haase John Gill Harvey Norm DL Jerry Birks Tom Broderick Pat H Randy G Richard Reynolds Arlene Karen JC Carola Timothy Jake Marshall Fuss Alan Levin ~C~  Gary RoxieL Katswan Bernie Irene Lucket Fred Mark Storkamp Hokan MikeD John Stewart Chris Schmelzer Doug Cadmus Bob BlueDog Mike Garner Danny Joe Elliot Dep Bearhair John Granger Polish Sumgai Mike Durand Shel Ted & Jill Simpson Luk Alec McC Eddy Funt John M iL Retorico Steve Johnson William of Orange Park Augie Eppler Sam Bradshaw Alan Critzer Al r Andy Schecter Tom Charles C Gerald Sasha Gregg Scarce Paul Hees Husband & Wife Seth Carol Joel Rick Meyers Matthiew John Roche Adrien Angelo Madeleine Marc Sindell Gerald Herb Bob Zalinski cheffgeff Sambo Harbor Pirate Barry Jarrett Jack Denver(solely in order of country, and apologies to anyone I inadvertently missed - you can't be on my map!)

Part 2 to follow...