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Hoxa Sound Hoxa Sound is the south east entrance to the Flow and the main entry point for shipping, both now and in the wars. This is a tidal area and, like Burra Sound, the visibility is generally superb. The usual travelling time from Stromness is around 1 1/2 hours but is a trip well worth making.
The James Barrie was a Grimsby trawler that ran aground at Louther Rock piercing the hull and forcing the crew to abandon ship. Two days later, on the 29 March 1969, she floated off the rocks and started to drift, unmanned in the Pentland Firth. The lifeboat Grace Paterson Richie took the James Barrie in tow and headed for Scapa. She started to take in water and sank off Hoxa Head; she now lies on her port side in 44m of water.
A small destroyer, tucked close into the shore at Flotta. Initially scuttled with the rest of the fleet, she was salvage by the Royal Navy but was driven ashore at this location whilst being towed away for breaking.
The UB 116 was sunk in 1918, a victim of the underwater defences sited to stop interlopers gaining access to the Flow. Today she is well broken up, barely recognisable as a submarine.
The Strathgary lies beyond sport diver limits in a tidal area; however she is a perfect depth for technical divers, especially those on training or build up dives. She is a small wreck around 34m long, formerly a boom defence vessel.
Stanger Head is a cliff face on the south east corner of Flotta, the base of which lies at around 25m. With so many wreck sites in the Flow, it often makes a nice change to do a scenic dive. The tide runs east the majority of the time, gently carrying divers along the face of the cliff. Clear water and an abundance of marine life make this a superb site. I have had Guillimots swim past me at 20m here, the air trapped in their feathers giving them a silver,mercurial sheen. Bob Anderson: bob@mvhalton.co.uk Tel:(01856) 851532
©Halton Charters
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