The bodies of two people planning to sail from Nova Scotia to the Azores using green energy were found on the shore of a Canadian national park this month, four weeks after they were last seen, authorities said.
On July 10, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police responded to calls reporting the discovery of a 10-foot inflatable lifeboat with human remains in it at Sable Island National Park Reserve, according to a police news release.
Authorities did not identify the remains but said they believed they were those of a 70-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman from British Columbia. A Facebook post by the man’s son, James Clibbery, later identified them as James Brett Clibbery and his wife, Sarah Justine Packwood, who had left Halifax Harbor in Nova Scotia on June 11 bound for the Azores. They were reported missing on June 18.
“The last few days have been very hard,” the younger Clibbery said in the post, adding that DNA tests would be carried out to confirm their identities. “With all the news, it’s hard to remain hopeful.”
“There is nothing that can fill the void left by his, as yet, inexplicable passing,” he said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it was investigating the deaths. A spokesman for the agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Sable Island is a “thin crescent of shifting sand” located about 289 kilometres southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Canadian government said, adding that the area is widely known for its variety of wildlife and its proximity to more than 350 shipwrecks.
The couple had chronicled much of their sailing and travel activities on social media.
In a video on his YouTube channel called Theros Adventures, Clibbery said they had named their trip to the Azores “The Green Odyssey” to prove that it was possible to travel without burning fossil fuels. Their 12-metre-long GibSea sailboat was powered by electricity and solar energy.
“It’s about showing that you can travel long distances without burning fossil fuels, without getting on a plane and filling the air with carbon dioxide,” Clibbery said.
In her final social media post on June 11, Clibbery, wearing a bright orange jacket with her silver hair blowing in the wind, described how the journey had only just begun.
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With his hands firmly on the helm, he took note of their speed and the distance they had travelled so far. Then Clibbery looked at the camera and said with a smile: “We are sailing.”
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