Tue 30 Jul – A WW2 sunken plane on Irakleia

We’ve been on somewhat of a roll lately with our running routine and thought it would be a good idea to get up early and get the run out of the way. When we landed the dinghy in the beach we were surprised to find no path. But hey, that won’t stop us from doing our exercise! What followed was 30 minutes of staggering and clambering over what I can only describe as a Martian landscape. Rocks, gravel, more rocks … and not a path in sight. Somehow we managed to run through a little settlement, where the only path on this island led through the courtyard of a tiny little restaurant, but that was it. Just behind it was more gravel, more rocks, and we were back to mountain climbing our way around.

There really isn’t much on Kato Koufenisi but it has a wild and untouched kind of beauty to it. Back on the boat without sustaining any major injuries we picked up the anchor and set our course south towards Irakleia, the eastern-most island of the small Cyclades. The wind had completely died and for once we were enjoying the 10 mile passage on a flat sea, running the engine. There’s a little bay in Irakleia with a sunken World War 2 sea plane which lies at 8 meters. Sounded worth a visit so we found the bay, anchored and went for a snorkel. It was pretty amazing to see this tiny plane sitting at the bottom of the ocean, I wonder what exactly happened? Apparently it was a German sea plane that got shot down in the open ocean and its crew rescued. Later a fisher boat dragged it into the bay, either intentionally or by accident we’re not sure.

After a snorkel around the wreck we set course to the east coast of Irakleia where there was a nice anchorage where we planned to spend the night. Again, we ended up in a bay with water so clear that it is hard to describe. Through a little Googling we found a nice restaurant of the side of the hill, run by what looks like a bunch of (ex)hippies with a passion for food. The restaurant was amazing, the people super friendly, and we felt supremely happy to be in this amazing spot, with Bini all alone in her bay.