The bodies of a British-Canadian couple who had embarked on a sailing trip across the Atlantic Ocean have been found on a life raft on Sable Island, near Nova Scotia, Canada.
Sarah Packwood and her husband Brett Clibbery went missing after setting out on their 13-meter (42-foot) eco-friendly yacht, Theros, on June 11, with plans to reach the Azores about 3,228 kilometers away within 21 days.
They were reported missing on June 18, and their bodies were discovered on July 12. According to Mr. Clibbery’s son, James, the past few days have been “very hard” for the family as they come to terms with the loss.
He said the couple would be “forever missed”, adding: “There isn’t anything that will fill the hole that has been left by their, so far unexplained passing.”
The circumstances leading to the tragic end of Sarah Packwood and Brett Clibbery’s dream transatlantic journey remain unclear. A “multi-agency” investigation is underway, according to police, following the discovery of their bodies. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been contacted by the BBC.
One theory under investigation is that their yacht might have been struck by a passing cargo ship that did not notice the collision, as reported by Canadian news website Saltwire. An anonymous source mentioned that the crew might have been unable to avoid the collision or could have been below deck while the yacht was on autopilot.
The Canadian coastguard and military aircraft have yet to find any wreckage or signs of the boat.
The couple had detailed their voyage on their YouTube channel, Theros Adventures, where they described their trip—dubbed the Green Odyssey—as reliant on sails, solar panels, batteries, and an electric engine repurposed from a car.
Mr. Clibbery had said in the video, posted on April 12, that they were committed to traveling without burning fossil fuels. Ms. Packwood had described it as “probably the biggest adventure of our lives so far.”
They had met by chance in London in 2015, when Ms. Packwood was preparing to donate a kidney to her sister and Mr. Clibbery, a retired engineer, was visiting. They married in Canada on their yacht a year later and reaffirmed their vows in a handfasting ceremony at Stonehenge in 2017, according to Ms. Packwood’s personal blog.
Ms. Packwood, originally from Warwickshire, had worked with the UN in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide and had extensive humanitarian experience. In their final Facebook post on June 11, they announced their departure on the second leg of The Green Odyssey aboard the Theros, a GibSea 42-foot sailboat, heading east to the Azores, powered by wind and sun.
