A British reiki healer and her Canadian husband may have died after their eco-friendly sailing boat was crushed by a bulk carrier vessel or sunk by the weight of its own solar panels as they attempted to cross the Atlantic.
Brett Clibbery, 70, and Sarah Justine Packwood, 54, were reported missing a week after setting off from Nova Scotia in Canada for the Azores in their 42ft sailing boat Theros on June 11.
Their bodies were found on July 10 in a life raft washed up on Sable Island – nicknamed the ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’. Exactly how they ran into trouble is not yet known but investigators are believed to be pursuing a number of theories.
A leading hypothesis is that the boat was struck by a much larger vessel shortly after leaving Halifax, but veteran sailors have suggested the extra weight of the batteries – torn from a Nissan Leaf electric car – and solar panels may have made it unstable.
Crash investigators have spoken to and inspected an unnamed large carrier that travelled through the area at the same time as the Theros – while Mr Clibbery’s son has paid tribute to his father and his wife as ‘amazing people’.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told Canadian news site Saltwire: ‘While they do not have conclusive proof, (investigators) suspect the sailboat whose crew washed up dead on Sable Island was struck by a bulk carrier (that was not loaded) likely only a few days after departing Halifax.’
The crew on board the larger ship are reported to have told investigators they were not aware of coming into contact with a sailboat – nor were there any signs of a collision on the hull of the bigger vessel.
Hugo Fontaine, Canadian transportation safety board spokesman, later said: ‘At this time, we cannot say with complete certainty that the sailing vessel was struck by a ship, as we are still gathering information regarding the overdue sailing vessel Theros.’
Coastguard searches of the area for traces of the Theros have turned up no signs of the sailboat. No distress calls appear to have been issued by the Theros.
The source also said that the amateur nature of the boat’s engine replacement could have presented issues. ‘It was a homemade job,’ they said.
The Theros was a wind and solar-powered vessel piloted by the pair to show how travel can be done without using fossil fuels. The pair also shared videos on their YouTube channel showing them driving across Canada in an electric car.
Mr Clibbery had explained in a YouTube video how the boat had been prepared to sail across the Atlantic with no fossil fuel assistance whatsoever.
‘We’ve installed six solar panels to charge the batteries, we have on board a Nissan Leaf battery pack that we use to drive the engine, so we have to get everything put together,’ he said.
Ms Packwood described herself as a ‘adventurer, artist, bard-in-training, co-creator, intuitive healer, humanitarian, musician, nature-lover, singer-songwriter, traveller and writer’ on her personal blog.
She was a practitioner of so-called ‘Reiki’ healing, a form of ‘energy healing’ performed using the palms of the hand.
She volunteered as a humanitarian aid worker in Rwanda following the country’s brutal genocide in 1994 and met Mr Clibbery in 2015 at a bus stop opposite the Department for International Development office in London.
Mr Clibbery was in the process of donating a kidney to his sister, Glory, who lived in the UK at the time, the Vancouver Sun reported, while Ms Packwood is from Long Itchington, Warwickshire.
She later quit her job, sold her London flat and joined Mr Clibbery on the Theros in Salt Spring Island, Canada before marrying him on the yacht in 2016, according to Ms Packwood’s personal blog.
They later affirmed their vows with a ‘handfasting’ Celtic ceremony at Stonehenge in April 2017, posting a video of the ceremony on their YouTube channel.
In a message shared on their Facebook page, the couple had written: ‘We aim to sail across the ocean, all being well, fair winds and following seas with us!’ They labelled the journey part of their ‘green odyssey’.
Mr Clibbery has been described as an experienced sailor and mechanic, while Ms Packwood said on her personal blog she had learned to sail at university before becoming a crew member on the Lord Nelson for the Jubilee Sailing Trust.
‘Learning to sail Theros though was an altogether different kettle of fish,’ she wrote.
Mr Clibbery and Ms Packwood were formally reported missing on June 18, a week after they had set sail. The journey to the Azores had been scheduled to take 21 days.
Sharing a final post on June 11, the pair had written: ‘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.’
The post was accompanied by a video of Mr Clibbery telling viewers the boat was around 12 nautical miles out from the shore, running at an average of 5.5 knots.
‘If the wind stays the same as it is right now we’re basically east south-east, which will get us to the Azores, so we’ll see,’ he said.
However, with no updates forthcoming thereafter, friends and family began to share concerned messages underneath their final post – sharing their correspondence with rescue coordinators in Halifax as they searched for the Theros.
A mayday signal was issued by Halifax coastguard crews to all ships nearby on July 3 – while rescue workers in the Azores were also searching for the boat in case it had arrived across the Atlantic.
June 11
Sarah Justine Packwood and Brett Clibbery set sail for the Azores from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the Theros – a journey that should take them 21 days
June 13
Mr Clibbery’s personal Garmin GPS device broadcasts its last location 40 miles south-west of Sable Island
June 18
The couple are declared missing and searches begin, with ships in the area asked to look out for the Theros
July 10
Canadian police are made aware of the discovery of a life raft on Sable Island containing two bodies
July 13
Mr Clibbery’s son James posts a tribute to the pair on social media, describing them as ‘amazing people’
But the worst fears of the couple’s friends and family were confirmed earlier this month after the liferaft was discovered on Sable Island – 175 miles from Halifax.
Nova Scotia’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) confirmed they had been made aware of the remains on July 10 within the Sable Island National Park Reserve.
‘On July 10, at approximately 3:15 pm, RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre were contacted, by Parks Canada, after a 10-foot inflatable boat was found washed ashore with two deceased people on board,’ a statement read.
‘At this time, it’s thought to be a lifeboat for a larger vessel named 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 Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson told today: ‘The incident remains under investigation and there is no further update at this time.’
Meanwhile, can reveal a GPS device belonging to Mr Clibbery may have pinged the spot where they hit trouble – 40 miles from where their bodies were eventually found.
Their yacht last issued a ping on June 11 as it left Halifax. But the sailor was also carrying a Garmin GPS device that sent out a final signal two days later around 40 miles south-west of Sable Island.
Data from VesselFinder suggests the Theros last issued an Automatic Identification System (AIS) ping at 7.26pm UTC – around 4.26pm in Nova Scotia – on June 11 as it left the harbour in Halifax from the Dartmouth Sailing Club.
But Mr Clibbery’s Garmin satellite device continued broadcasting a continuous satellite position for more than two days as the Theros made its way east.
As the yacht left Halifax, the tracking data suggests the boat travelled at around 10-11km/h, or around 5.5 knots, for more than two days.
Data reported by the device suggests that its battery was ‘normal’, and it regularly reported information at 10 minute intervals.
However, at 8.36pm UTC on June 13, the device made its last broadcast approximately 40 miles south-west of Sable Island.
The fatal voyage was the second attempt the couple had made at sailing across the Atlantic to the Portuguese mid-Atlantic archipelago.
Mr Clibbery and Ms Packwood amade an earlier attempt to reach the Azores in 2019 before they were forced to turn back after encountering vicious storms on the sea.
Ms Packwood had said of the earlier attempt: ‘The Atlantic is still going to be there next year. We will try again. As Robert the Bruce said, “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”, and that is what we intend to do.’
Posting a tribute on social media, Mr Clibbery’s son James said his father and his wife were ‘amazing people’.
He said: ‘The past few days have been very hard. My father James Brett Clibbery, and his wife, Sarah Justine Packwood have regrettably passed away.
‘I am so very sorry to the people who were friends of them.
‘They were amazing people, and there isn’t anything that will fill the hole that has been left by their, so far unexplained passing.
‘Living will not be the same without your wisdom, and your wife was quickly becoming a beacon of knowledge, and kindness.
‘I miss your smiles. I miss your voices. You will be forever missed.’
Tim O’Connor and John Dolman, friends of the couple, told the Times Colonist the pair ‘loved to travel and meet new people’.
Mr Dolman said: ‘She called him “captain” and called herself the “carpenter’s apprentice”.
‘They were in love. They passed away doing the thing that they loved. Their adventure continues on the other side.’