A map showing where a British reiki healer and her Canadian husband’s echo-yacht was last tracked before their bodies were tragically found nearly a month later has been revealed.
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.
It has since emerged that the couple amade an earlier attempt to reach the Azores in 2019 before they were forced to turn back after encountering vicious storms on the sea.
MailOnline 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.
Brett Clibbery and Sarah Packwood, who were found dead off the coast of Nova Scotia earlier this month after their journey on an eco-yacht met a grim end
The Theros, a 42ft sailing boat, which was used by the couple to sail around North America. This image was taken as the boat left Dartmouth Yacht Club in Halifax on its fatal final journey
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 on the couple’s YouTube channel: ‘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.’
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.
The Theros’ automatic identification system last pinged on June 11 at 5.26pm UTC as it left Halifax – but Mr Clibbery’s personal Garmin device continued to transmit satellite position data for two days
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.
The pair shared videos of their sailing adventures on their fully solar and wind-powered yacht, Theros, on YouTube and Facebook
The yacht had been converted to run purely on sail and solar power after having its diesel engine removed
The pair got married on board their yacht in 2016 (left) before they held a Celtic handfasting ceremony at Stonehenge a year later (right)
Ms Packwood and Mr Clibbery were regular travellers – sharing images and videos of their sailing trips, electric car journeys and hikes
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.
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.Â
‘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.’
Mr Clibbery at the helm of the Theros yacht. How the boat ran into trouble is still being investigated by Canadian police
Sarah Packwood and Brett Clibbery. Ms Packwood had taken to sharing stories of her time on board the yacht online
Sarah Packwood described herself online as an ‘intuitive healer’, practising so-called Reiki healing therapy
Mr Clibbery and Ms Packwood pose for a photo in front of the Theros. An investigation into how they came to abandon ship remains underway
The couple set sail out of Halifax, Nova Scotia (pictured) on June 11 – but contact was lost shortly thereafter
Their ultimate destination had been the Azores in the mid-Atlantic, 800 miles west of Portugal (pictured: Sao Miguel Island in the archipelago)
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.’
