The bodies of a couple, Briton Sarah Packwood and her Canadian husband Brett Clibbery, have been found on a washed-up life raft almost six weeks after they started a sailing trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
The couple, who departed from Nova Scotia in their 13-meter (42-foot) eco-friendly yacht, Theros, were last seen on July 12 when their life raft was discovered on Sable Island near Nova Scotia.
Sarah Packwood and Brett Clibbery were reported missing on June 18, a week after leaving Nova Scotia. They planned to sail to the Azores, roughly 3,228 kilometers away, with an expected journey time of 21 days.
In a Facebook post, Mr. Clibbery’s son, James, verified the couple’s deaths, sharing the deep sorrow their family is experiencing.
He wrote, “There’s nothing that can fill the void left by their, as yet, unexplained passing.”
The circumstances of the couple’s tragic death are still unknown, and an investigation is presently ongoing, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police informed the BBC on Sunday.
One theory investigators are considering is that the yacht might have been hit by a passing cargo ship that didn’t notice the collision.
According to the Canadian news website Saltwire, an anonymous source recommended that the sailboat crew might have been unable to avoid the collision or may have been below deck while Theros was on autopilot.
According to Saltwire, the Canadian coastguard and military aircraft have not found any wreckage or traces of the boat.
In a video on their YouTube channel, Theros Adventures, the couple outlined their ambitious “Green Odyssey” trip, intended to demonstrate sustainable travel using sails, solar panels, batteries, and a car-repurposed electric engine.
“We’re doing everything possible to show that you can travel without burning fossil fuels,” Mr. Clibbery stated in the April 12 video. Ms. Packwood added, “It’s probably the biggest adventure of our lives so far.”
The couple’s journey started with a chance meeting in London in 2015, when Ms. Packwood was preparing to donate a kidney to her sister, and Mr. Clibbery, a retired engineer, was visiting the city.
They married a year later on their yacht in Canada and reaffirmed their vows in a traditional handfasting ceremony at Stonehenge in 2017, as described in Ms. Packwood’s personal blog.
