Crest relaunched at the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum on 10th March 2020

Images(10)

CREST at the Lady Denman Heritage Complex slipway, 2005

A view of CREST showing the elegant counter stern typical of many early motor launches.

Interior view of the wheelhouse on CREST, as restored in 2005.

Construction Plan of NINON, recreated in 2000 as a drawing by D Payne, using evidence from the…

Crest

Vessel numberHV000049

Builder Freddie Dent

Date1911

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 8.41 m x 7.16 m x 2.08 m x 0.73 m (27.6 ft x 23.5 ft x 6.8 ft x 2.4 ft)

DescriptionCREST is an 8.41 m (27 ft 6 in), carvel planked vessel built for a Danish born fisherman, Jack Rossen. He named it NINON after his wife Stella Ninon Moon. It is planked in local hardwoods, and built with a counter stern and plumb stem, features that were typical for the era.

The NINON was used in Jervis Bay, nearby St Georges Basin and along that region's coast. Rossen owned the vessel until his death in 1957, and after that NINON went through a succession of owners and changes. The most significant alteration was the addition of a raised deck forward and wheelhouse at midships. The hull however is virtually unchanged and apart from repairs has a considerable amount of original material. The new owners replaced the original petrol motor to a diesel and the launch was renamed CREST.

Freddie Dent and his brother Joseph Dent constructed a number of launches similar to NINON and they were common to the Jervis Bay area. A number of images survive to show their typical details, but NINON is the only one of these craft that remains extant to show his typical construction. This includes his hallmark arrangement of an additional stern post at the aperture for the propeller that also forms a bollard post on deck.

Joseph Dent also built the ferry LADY DENMAN in the same year, and both are now preserved at the Lady Denman Heritage Complex in Huskisson, on the western shore of Jervis Bay.

A restoration initiative began in 2012 to get Crest back in the water. This project was funded as part of the ANMM MMAPSS grant scheme. The works were primarily undertaken by volunteers, with oversight from prominent local boat builders Dave Lewis and John Settree. The works entailed scraping of the hull, stabilising planks, and the building of a cradle with a trolley to hold the hull shape. Internal ribs and stringers were shaped, steamed, bent and roved. The eculyptus timber engine beds and floors were also reconstructed, the 3-cylinder Lister diesel and gearbox rebuilt, and the propellor shaft replaced. Recaulking was also carried out. Following these works Crest was once more launched on the 10 March 2020 with Shoalhaven mayor Amanda Findley ceremonially pouring champagne over the vessel.
SignificanceCREST is a motor launch built in 1911 by Freddie Dent at his Huskisson NSW boatyard, on Currambene Creek. It was used as a fishing vessel on Jervis Bay by Jack Rossen for almost 50 years. It is the only surviving example of the many Jervis Bay launches built by Dent who was well known in the region as one of the principal boat builders in the early 1900s. The hull retains considerable original integrity and shows features that were hallmarks of his construction.