Experts have suggested that a thrill-seeking Canadian couple’s failed attempt to cross the Atlantic last month may have been caused by their homemade boat being rammed by a much larger ship shortly after setting off from Halifax on Canada’s northeast coast.
Earlier this month, the bodies of Brett Clivery, 70, and Sarah Justine Packwood, 54, were discovered inside a life raft that washed up on Sable Island, Nova Scotia.
The area has been given the ominous nickname “Graveyard of the Atlantic” due to the large number of shipwrecks that wash up on its shores.
An official investigation is ongoing and no concrete answers have been forthcoming, but one leading theory is that their boat was badly damaged by a much larger ship, forcing the couple to evacuate on a life raft.
“Although there is no conclusive evidence, (investigators) believe the sailing vessel was struck by a bulk carrier just a few days after leaving Halifax,” a source close to the investigation told Saltwire.
Investigators have reportedly inspected a transport ship that was in the same area as the couple’s ship, the Cerros, at the start of the voyage, but their findings have not been made public.
“The carrier’s crew told investigators there was no sign of damage and they were unaware of any collision with the small boat,” the Daily Mirror reported.
Sources speculated that homemade additions to the ship’s equipment may have caused further problems, while veteran sailors told the media that excessive ballast from batteries and solar panels may have destabilized the vessel.
On June 11, the couple set sail across the Atlantic from Halifax to the Azores in a 42-foot yacht that they built themselves.
The environmentally friendly ship, which operates without diesel engines, was due to reach its destination by July 2 to demonstrate that electric, wind and solar powered ships can sail around the world.
The excursion marked the couple’s first completely “green” journey on Theros, and the trip is being documented on the couple’s YouTube channel, “Adventures in Theros.”
Despite various theories about how the fateful voyage turned deadly, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has not made any official statement as to what happened.
“At this time we are still gathering information about the delayed sailing vessel Telos and therefore cannot say with complete certainty that the vessel was struck by a ship,” the spokesman said.
Clivery and Packwood married on a yacht in 2016, a year after meeting by chance at a bus stop in London, England.
Packwood met Clivery, who was visiting from Canada, as she was preparing to donate a kidney to her sister, and their heartwarming story was at the center of a 2020 article in The Guardian called “How We Met.”
“Since then, we’ve been traveling and creating adventures together,” Packwood wrote in a previous YouTube post.
Ms Clivery’s son Brett posted a loving tribute to the couple on Facebook, acknowledging that the past few days had been incredibly difficult for the family and that the news emerging from the investigation made it “hard to hold on to hope”.
He continued, “They were wonderful people and nothing will ever fill the hole created by their deaths, which so far have no known cause.”
“Life would not be the same without your wisdom, and your wife quickly became a beacon of knowledge and kindness. I miss your smile. I miss your voice. I will miss you forever.”
