Couple found dead after trying to cross Atlantic
By Tom McArthur, BBC News
sarahjustinepackwood.com
The bodies of a couple who set off on a sailing trip across the Atlantic Ocean have been found on a washed-up life raft almost six weeks after they were last seen.
Briton Sarah Packwood and her Canadian husband Brett Clibbery are thought to have abandoned their yacht and perished before washing up on Sable Island near Nova Scotia in Canada on 12 July.
The couple were reported missing on 18 June after leaving Nova Scotia in their 13m (42ft) eco-friendly yacht, Theros, a week earlier.
They were on the way to the Azores – about 3,228 km away – with the trip planned to take 21 days.
In a post on Facebook, Mr Clibbery’s son James confirmed the pair had died, saying that the last few days had been “very hard”.
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.”
It is unclear how the couple’s dream transatlantic crossing ended in tragedy. A “multi-agency” investigation is under way, police said, after the bodies were found.
The BBC has contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
One theory investigators are exploring is that the yacht was struck by a passing cargo ship that did not notice the collision, according to Canadian news website Saltwire.
“The sailboat crew were either unable to avoid collision” or they could have been down below with Theros on automatic pilot, an anonymous source told Saltwire.
The Canadian coastguard and military aircraft have not spotted wreckage or any sign of the boat, Saltwire reports.
YouTube/TherosAdventures
Facebook/Theros Sailing Adventure
In a video posted to their YouTube channel, Theros Adventures, the pair explained how their trip – dubbed the Green Odyssey – would rely on sails, solar panels, batteries and an electric engine repurposed from a car.
“We’re doing everything we can to show that you can travel without burning fossil fuels,” Mr Clibbery said in the video, posted on 12 April.
“It’s probably the biggest adventure of our lives so far,” Ms Packwood added.
The pair 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 London.
They married in Canada on their yacht a year later, before affirming their vows in a traditional handfasting ceremony at Stonehenge in 2017, according to Ms Packwood’s personal blog.
Their story was featured in a 2020 “How We Met” article in The Guardian.
Ms Packwood, originally from Warwickshire, had worked in Rwanda with the UN after the 1994 genocide and had extensive experience as a humanitarian.
In what would be their final post on 11 June, the pair wrote on Facebook: “Captain Brett and First Mate Sarah set sail on the 2nd leg of The Green Odyssey on board Theros – GibSea 42 foot sailboat. Powered by the wind and sun. Heading east to the Azores.”
