A couple on an eco-friendly voyage across the Atlantic Ocean were found dead in a lifeboat after being forced to abandon their yacht.
Brett Clibbery, 70, and British Sarah Justine Packwood, 54, were reported missing after setting sail from Nova Scotia, Canada, on June 11 in their 42-foot sailboat Theros. They were found washed ashore in a life raft last week.
The couple’s remains were found on Sable Island, nicknamed the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” 180 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, where the life raft had washed ashore. They had planned to sail to the Azores, 900 miles west of Portugal.
The Theros was a wind and solar powered vessel that the couple piloted to show how travel is possible without using fossil fuels. The couple also shared videos on their YouTube channel of them driving across Canada in an electric car.
Investigators are investigating whether the boat may have been hit by a larger vessel. The couple does not appear to have made any distress calls.
In a post on their Facebook page, the two wrote: ‘We want to cross the ocean, if all goes well, the wind is with us and the sea is with us!’ They called the journey part of their ‘green odyssey’.
Brett Clibbery and Sarah Packwood, who were found dead off the coast of Nova Scotia earlier this month after their eco-yacht journey came to a grim end
The couple shared videos of their sailing adventures on their fully solar and wind powered yacht, Theros, on YouTube and Facebook
The Theros, a 42ft sailboat, which was used by the couple to sail around North America
The yacht was converted to run solely on sail and solar power after the diesel engine was removed
The couple married aboard their yacht in 2016 (left) before holding a Celtic handfasting ceremony at Stonehenge a year later (right)
Mrs Packwood and Mr Clibbery were regular travellers and shared photos and videos of their sailing trips, electric car rides and walks
The couple married on the Theros in 2016, according to Ms Packwood’s personal blog, a year after they met at a bus stop in London. Mr Clibbery is described as an experienced sailor and mechanic.
Mrs Packwood, from Long Itchington, Warwickshire, was donating a kidney to her sister, Glory, the Vancouver sun reported.
Later, in April 2017, they held a Celtic ‘handfasting’ ceremony at Stonehenge and posted a video of the meeting on their YouTube channel.
Their journey to the Azores would be the first completely ‘green’ voyage on Theros, after the diesel engine was replaced by wind and solar power.
Clibbery’s son James posted a tribute on social media, saying his father and wife were “wonderful people”.
He said: ‘The last few days have been very difficult. My father James Brett Clibbery and his wife, Sarah Justine Packwood, have sadly passed away.
‘I feel so sorry for the people who were their friends.
‘They were wonderful people, and there is nothing that can fill the void left by their as-yet unexplained passing.
‘Without your wisdom, life would not be the same, and your wife quickly became a beacon of knowledge and kindness.
“I miss your smiles. I miss your voices. You will be missed forever.”
Tim O’Connor and John Dolman, friends of the couple, told the Times Colonist The couple ‘loved travelling and meeting new people’.
Mr Dolman said: ‘She called him ‘captain’ and referred to herself as ‘the carpenter’s apprentice’.
“They were in love. They died doing what they loved most. Their adventure continues on the other side.”
Mr Clibbery at the helm of the Theros yacht. How the boat got into trouble is still being investigated by Canadian police
Sarah Packwood and Brett Clibbery. Mrs. Packwood had begun sharing stories online about her time aboard the yacht
Sarah Packwood described herself online as an “intuitive healer” who practices the so-called Reiki healing therapy
Mr Clibbery and Mrs Packwood pose for a photo in front of the Theros. An investigation into how they left the ship is still ongoing
The couple left Halifax, Nova Scotia (pictured) on June 11, but contact was lost shortly afterward
Their final destination was the Azores in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 800 miles west of Portugal (pictured: the island of Sao Miguel in the archipelago)
On June 11, they shared a final post, writing: “Captain Brett and First Officer Sarah set sail for the second leg of The Green Odyssey aboard the Theros – GibSea 42ft sailboat. Powered by the wind and the sun. Heading east to the Azores.”
The message was accompanied by a video of Mr Clibbery telling viewers that the boat was about 12 miles offshore and was travelling at an average speed of 5.5 knots.
“If the wind stays the same as it is now, then we will actually be in an east-southeast direction and then we will reach the Azores, so we will see,” he said.
With no further updates, friends and family members began posting concerned messages under their last posts. They corresponded with rescue coordinators in Halifax to search for the Theros.
The couple were officially reported missing on June 18, a week after they left. The journey to the Azores was supposed to take 21 days.
On July 3, the Halifax Coast Guard issued a distress signal to all ships in the area, while rescuers in the Azores also searched for the boat in case it had ended up on the other side of the Atlantic.
However, the worst fears of the couple’s friends and family were realised earlier this month after the life raft was discovered on Sable Island, 280 kilometres from Halifax.
The Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) confirmed they were notified of the remains in the Sable Island National Park Reserve on July 10.
“On July 10 at approximately 3:15 p.m., the RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre were contacted by Parks Canada after a three-metre inflatable boat washed ashore with two deceased people on board,” the statement said.
‘It is currently believed to be a lifeboat for a larger ship called Theros. The remains are believed to be those of two sailors, a 70-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman, from British Columbia.
‘They were reported missing to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre on June 18, after leaving Halifax Harbour on June 11 en route to the Azores.’
A spokesperson for the Nova Scotia RCMP told MailOnline today: ‘The incident remains under investigation and there is no further update at this time.’
How the boat was abandoned remains a mystery. However, one theory is that the boat was struck by a much larger ship shortly after leaving Halifax.
Hugo Fontaine, spokesman for the Canadian Transportation Safety Board, told the Telegraph: “At this time we cannot say with complete certainty that the sailing vessel was struck by a ship as we are still gathering information about the late-arriving sailing vessel Theros.”
Mr Clibbery explained in a YouTube video how the boat was prepared to cross the Atlantic Ocean without any help from fossil fuels.
“We have installed six solar panels to charge the batteries and we have a battery pack from a Nissan Leaf on board that we use to power the engine, so we have to put everything together,” he said.
Ms. Packwood, who described herself as “adventurer, artist, bard-in-training, co-creator, intuitive healer, humanist, musician, nature lover, singer-songwriter, traveler and writer,” volunteered as a humanitarian aid worker in Rwanda after the country’s brutal genocide in 1994.
She met Mr Clibbery in 2015 at a bus stop opposite the Department for International Development office in London. She later quit her job, sold her London apartment and joined him on the Theros in Salt Spring Island, Canada.