Couple Found Dead in Lifeboat After Attempting to Cross the Atlantic: 'They Were Amazing People'

A couple who lived in Canada set off for the Azores in the Atlantic, but were found dead weeks later in a life raft floating near the coast of Halifax

A couple living in Canada has died after attempting to sail across the Atlantic.

According to a press release shared on July 12 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, investigators responded to reports of human remains of two people found in a 10-foot inflatable boat, which had washed ashore at Sable Island National Park Reserve, a sandbar off the coast in Halifax.

On Monday, July 22, police shared an update, announcing the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service had officially identified one of the people as a 70-year-old man, and that investigators were confident the other remains belonged to woman a 54-year-old woman, both from British Columbia.

Multiple outlets, including The Guardian, CNN and the Vancouver Sun, identified them as Sarah Packwood, 54, and Brett Clibbery, 70.

According to police, the couple was first reported missing on June 18 after leaving the coast of Nova Scotia in their 42-foot yacht Theros the previous week.

The couple had set off for the Azores — a collection of Portuguese islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about 2,000 miles away from where they started — and planned to embark on a 21-day trip. The Guardian reported that Clibbery’s GPS device was last detected about 40 miles southwest of Sable Island on June 13.

The life raft they were found in is believed to have belonged to their larger vessel, according to the Sun.

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Clibbery's son James spoke out about his father and stepmother's death in a post shared to Facebook on July 13.

"They were amazing people, and there isn't anything that will fill the hole that has been left by their, so far unexplained passing," he wrote. "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."

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The Guardian previously profiled the couple and their relationship in 2020. According to the newspaper, the pair met in the U.K., where Packwood was originally from. Clibbery told her about his love for sailing and about Theros, where the pair would later get engaged and married. They moved to Canada together in 2018.

The couple also documented their travels on their YouTube channel — titled Theros Adventures — and said in April that they had modified the yacht themselves so that it would rely on sails, solar panels, batteries and a car engine.

“We’re doing everything we can to show that you can travel without burning fossil fuels,” Clibbery said in one video posted on April 12, per the Sun.

"It's probably the biggest adventure of our lives so far," Packwood added.

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According to police, the couple's deaths are "not believed to be suspicious in nature" and an investigation is still under way to determine what may have happened to the Theros.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police noted that "an update will be issued should the investigation uncover any criminality."

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