Please select your home edition
Edition
MySail 2025

Animated Knots by Grog - Part 1

by Jeraldine Kennedy on 11 Jul 2011
Basic Knots - Animated knots by Grog SW
By far the most popular way of learning how to tie knots, be it for boating, fishing or climbing, is via the internet where the animation allows you to see and follow every twist and turn.

The website and now iPhone app that leads the way is Animated Knots by Grog. You can click through to those animated knots on our website where you will also find links to the iPhone apps.

What has Grog got to do with it?
British Naval sailors in the 1700s gave the nickname ‘Grog’ to Admiral Vernon because his coat was made of a coarse silk called Grogram. When the Navy Admiral introduced the practice of diluting the sailors' daily rum ration, his nickname was applied to the drink - and his nickname survives for drinks to this day.

For the British Grogono family, ‘Grog’ has been a frequently used nickname. Today, three brothers (Alan, James, and Andrew Grogono) all call each other ‘Grog’.


A doctor by trade, Alan ‘Grog’ followed his father and grandfather into medical practice and became an anaesthesiologist. He also shared the family passion for sailing. Grog's surgeon brother James started what became a successful high speed sailing project. James, Grog and brother Andrew, with their father and two friends, created 'Icarus' a hydrofoil modified Tornado catamaran and progressively increased the World Sailing Speed Record in ‘B’ Class between 1977 and 1985.

Grog explains. ‘James was our leader and designer and driving force. However, he seemed to have a tough time getting away when the wind was right so I held the B Class record a number of times. I think my brother Andrew finally put it up to 28.6 knots which at the time seemed really, really fast.

‘It started as a standard Tornado and we still have it. It has had several new hulls, new masts, everything, but we call it the same boat. In fact, until you add on the foils, it is still a standard Tornado, so we didn’t wreck the boat.‘

Grog, along with his dentist wife Anthea and their four young children, migrated to the USA in 1974 from the UK.

A technology freak, Grog owned the first colour computer in the USA.

In 1995, when Grog was running the anaesthesiology department in Tulane Medical School, in New Orleans, Louisiana, he announced to his astonished department, that they must have a website. As no one else had any idea what he meant, he created his first departmental website, followed soon after by the family website.

Alan recounts the story. ‘I built a family website, mostly family photographs and I had a few other things that amused me that I knew something about. One of them was magic squares. It is still on our family website to this day. The other was knots from my sailing days.

‘I had this idea about teaching people how to tie knots, using sequences of still digital images turned into an animation. I launched the Animated Knots by Grog website in 2001. It quickly became too busy for our website host. We were taking up too much bandwidth, so we had to move it.

‘My reference was Ashley’s Book of Knots from 1944. There are nearly four thousand knots, with duplications - a monumental work.

‘When I started the knots website it was really only boating knots, for a good reason, as it was the only thing I knew anything about. I didn’t know anything about climbing or fishing. As soon as the website began to get busy I got endless emails, please do fishing, and please do climbing.

‘I was by then retired. Naturally all retired people are far too busy so I didn’t find any time until my knee wore out and my hip wore out and I had to have a replacement surgery for both of them. I had them done about six weeks apart. That forced me twice to sit still for a month.

‘My wife converted the kitchen table into a photo studio. She moved my computer down there and a rolling desk chair.

'I have yet to tie a single knot in fishing line. I am not a fisherman, I am not a climber: I haven’t even got fishing line in the house. But I managed to learn enough about fishing knots and about climbing knots to take all the photographs for those two sections.

‘Actually Ashley is not that good on climbing and fishing knots. I went online and I also phoned people up in university departments, climbing clubs and said ‘I need your help.’

‘When I went live with it, I got hammered. I got some of the toughest emails I think I have ever had; you are an idiot…. You don’t know what you are doing... You have never fished in your life.

‘I wrote back and said that is true. Would you be kind enough to help me? They did!

‘These critics spent ages editing, looking, and advising me. This helped me convert both these sections from being highly criticized. Now the fishing knots are my leading section.

‘These days comparing it to Ashley’s day there is obviously different technology in rope material and coverings on rope that affects what knots will work and not work.

In part 2 of this feature Grog expands on this knotty problem and takes us to the iPhone app. But you can jump ahead and order it by clicking Animated Knots website

Sydney Boat Show 2025 - Apply to ExhibitZhik 2024 DecemberBoat Books Australia FOOTER

Related Articles

Galicia 52 Super Series Royal Cup Preview
Getting ready to race at Monte Real Club de Yates in Baiona Today (Friday) Galicia's prestigious Monte Real Club de Yates in Baiona (Galicia, Spain) hosted the official presentation of the GALICIA 52 SUPER SERIES ROYAL CUP, the second scoring event for the 2025 season of the 52 SUPER SERIES.
Posted on 30 May
Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta day 3
No racing due to light wind in Porto Cervo The forecast of very light winds proved to be accurate today as the starting procedure for the third day of the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta and the Southern Wind RendezVous got under way.
Posted on 30 May
Armstrong Foils: On tour - Home of Armstrong II
Join America's Cup champion, Blair Tuke and Armstrong team riders on the tour of NZ's Far North Join three times America's Cup champion, Blair Tuke and Armstrong team riders Olivia Jenkins, Naumi Eychenne, Bowien van der Linden, Cash Berzolla, and Reo Stevens, on the Home of Armstrong Tour II, as they explore NZ's Far North.
Posted on 30 May
Tom Gruitt passes away
Sailing photographer, writer, video editor, but most of all, a friend to many Tom Gruitt, photographer, writer, video editor, but most of all, a friend to many, has passed away at the far too young age of 37.
Posted on 30 May
Rooster - Supporting Women in Sailing
Here to amplify women's voices, create better gear, and help shape a more inclusive future At Rooster, we're proud to be part of a movement that's putting women at the forefront of sailing - not just on race day, but every day.
Posted on 30 May
Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race pre-start overview
Returning this weekend, rekindling an offshore classic that has tested sailors for generations The historic PONANT Sydney Noumea Yacht Race returns this weekend, rekindling an offshore classic that has tested sailors for generations.
Posted on 30 May
Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club Day 2
Another flawless day for top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her team Another thrilling day of racing with top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team continuing their unbeaten streak with fifteen straight wins in the qualifying round robin stage, asserting a dominant lead.
Posted on 30 May
XR41 shines at Fyn Rundt with 1st and 2nd in class
Formula X and Xbox dominate prestigious Danish regatta under new conditions In a weekend of challenging conditions and fierce competition,the high-performance racer secured 1st and 2nd in its class, and 4th and 5th overall out of 220 boats at the prestigious Fyn Cup, a 145-nautical-mile regatta around Denmark's island of Funen.
Posted on 30 May
Team Racing Worlds at Newport, RI, Day 1
Tricky conditions & challenging 2v2 format tests Team Racing fleet Gray skies, intermittent rain and shifty light winds were not enough to dampen the energy and enthusiasm on Narragansett Bay for Day 1 of the Team Racing World Championship under way at Harbour Court.
Posted on 30 May
16th 151 Miglia-Trofeo Cetilar preview
Registered entries for the race now total 229 This will be the fourth event in the International Maxi Association's 2024-25 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge, which began with last October's Rolex Middle Sea Race.
Posted on 29 May