A couple who embarked on an eco-friendly voyage across the Atlantic were found dead in a lifeboat after seemingly being forced to abandon their yacht.
Brett Clibbery, 70, and British woman Sarah Packwood, 54, were reported missing after setting off from Nova Scotia in Canada in their 42ft sailing boat Theros on June 11.
Tragically, the couple were found in a lifeboat last week on the coast of Sable Island, 180 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, the liferaft having washed ashore. They had intended to sail to the Azores 900 miles west of Portugal.
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.
In a message shared on their Facebook page, the pair 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’.
The couple were wed on the Theros in 2016, according to Ms Packwood’s personal blog, a year after meeting at a bus stop in London.
Ms Packwood was in the process of donating a kidney to her sister, Glory, the Vancouver Sun reported.
They later held a ‘handfasting’ Celtic ceremony at Stonehenge in April 2017, posting a video of the encounter on their YouTube channel.
Their trip to the Azores was meant to be the first fully ‘green’ journey on Theros after removing its diesel engine in favour of wind and solar power.
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.’