SLEAT

Very much part of the scenery in the Holy Loch area is the Professional Diving Academy's training ship SLEAT. This former ferry, previously a member of Western Ferries' fleet as their SOUND OF SLEAT, was acquired by the PDA in 2004, and converted into her present role by Garvel Drydock at Greenock. She spends the majority of her time at a mooring in the Holy Loch, just off Sandbank, but occasionally makes the short journey to another mooring off Kirn, a few miles further south, where deeper water is available for working from a wet bell. SLEAT herself was built in Holland in 1961, and served on a short crossing on the River Maas until she was purchased by Western Ferries in 1988.