Couple found dead on Atlantic’s ‘Graveyard Island’ while sailing across ocean

A couple who were trying to sail across the Atlantic Ocean have been found dead washed up in a lifeboat on a remote island.

British musician Sarah Packwood, 54, and her husband Brett Clibbery, 70, were attempting to make their way from Nova Scotia, Canada, to the Azores. 

They set sail on June 11 on their 42ft wind and solar-powered yacht named Theros but were reported missing a week later after contact had been lost with the boat. 

Their bodies were discovered in a three-metre life raft on Sable Island – a stretch of land dubbed the ‘graveyard of the Atlantic’ around 180 miles east of Nova Scotia – last week. 

It’s not yet known how the couple got into trouble on their 2,000-mile voyage from North America to the Portuguese islands, which lie around 870 miles west of mainland Europe.

Brett, a Canadian, was carrying a Garmin GPS device which reportedly pinged a final signal on June 13 around 40 miles south-west of Sable Island.

Police in Halifax have launched an investigation into their deaths. 

Sable Island, which is a long and thin area of land stretching around 28 miles, gained its nickname as the Atlantic’s graveyard for the sheer number of people found dead there through history.

More than 350 shipwrecks have been recorded since 1583, according to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which says the island is near a major shipping route, lies on a common storm path and is surrounded by ‘tricky’ currents.

It’s home to hundreds of wild horses, manned by just a handful of federal government staff with no permanent residents, and is a protected National Park Reserve.  

The pair first met at a bus stop in London in 2015 and got married on their yacht one year later before also holding a Celtic marriage ceremony at Stonehenge.

Sarah, who was from Warwickshire and said to be an ‘accomplished sailor’, later moved to Canada with Brett and they lived on land they bought on Salt Spring Island, near Vancouver.

As they embarked on their journey, the couple shared a video on their Facebook page, Theros Sailing Adventure, and wrote: ‘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.’

Brett’s son James Clibbery paid a heartbreaking tribute to his father on July 13. 

‘The past few days have been very hard,’ he wrote on Facebook.

‘My father James Brett Clibbery, and his wife, Sarah Justine Packwood have regrettably passed away.

‘There is still an investigation, as well as a DNA test to confirm, but with all the news, it is hard to remain hopeful. 

‘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.’

John Dolman, a friend of the couple, told local news outlet Times Colonist that they died doing ‘the thing they loved’. 

He 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.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.