Mystery as British eco-explorer couple who were attempting to sail 2005 miles from Nova Scotia to Azores in a wind and solar-powered yacht are found dead in a washed up lifeboat a month after they were reported missing

A couple who embarked on an eco-friendly voyage across the Atlantic were found dead in a lifeboat after seemingly being forced to abandon their yacht.

Brett Clibbery, 70, and British woman Sarah Packwood, 54, were reported missing after setting off from Nova Scotia in Canada in their 42ft sailing boat Theros on June 11 - and were found last week in a washed-up liferaft.

The couple's remains were found on Sable Island, nicknamed the 'Graveyard of the Atlantic', 180 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, the liferaft having washed ashore. They had intended to sail to the Azores 900 miles west of Portugal.

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.

Investigators are assessing whether the boat may have been struck by a larger vessel. No distress calls appear to have been issued by the couple.

In a message shared on their Facebook page, the pair had written: 'We aim to sail across the ocean, all being well, fair winds and following seas with us!' They labelled the journey part of their 'green odyssey'.

The couple were wed on the Theros in 2016, according to Ms Packwood's personal blog, a year after meeting at a bus stop in London.

Ms Packwood, from Long Itchington, Warwickshire, was in the process of donating a kidney to her sister, Glory, the Vancouver Sun reported.

They later held a 'handfasting' Celtic ceremony at Stonehenge in April 2017, posting a video of the encounter on their YouTube channel.

Their trip to the Azores was meant to be the first fully 'green' journey on Theros after removing its diesel engine in favour of wind and solar power.

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. 

'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.'

Tim O'Connor and John Dolman, friends of the couple, told the Times Colonist the pair 'loved to travel and meet new people'.

Sharing a final post on June 11, the pair had written: '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.'

The post was accompanied by a video of Mr Clibbery telling viewers the boat was around 12 miles out from the shore, running at an average of 5.5 knots.

'If the wind stays the same as it is right now we're basically east south-east, which will get us to the Azores, so we'll see,' he said.

However, with no updates forthcoming thereafter, friends and family began to share concerned messages underneath their final posts - corresponding with rescue coordinators in Halifax to search for the Theros.

The couple were formally reported missing on June 18, a week after they had set sail. The journey to the Azores had been scheduled to take 21 days. 

A mayday signal was issued by Halifax coastguard crews to all ships nearby on July 3 - while rescue workers in the Azores were also searching for the boat in case it had arrived across the Atlantic.

However, the worst fears of the couple's friends and family were confirmed earlier this month after the liferaft was discovered on Sable Island - 175 miles from Halifax. 

Nova Scotia's Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) confirmed they had been made aware of the remains on July 10 within the Sable Island National Park Reserve.

'On July 10, at approximately 3:15 pm, RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre were contacted, by Parks Canada, after a 10-foot inflatable boat was found washed ashore with two deceased people on board,' a statement read.

'At this time, it's thought to be a lifeboat for a larger vessel named Theros. The remains are believed to be those of two sailors, a 70-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman, from British Columbia. 

'They were reported missing to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre on June 18 after leaving Halifax Harbour on June 11, en route to the Azores.'

A Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson told MailOnline today: 'The incident remains under investigation and there is no further update at this time.'

How the boat came to be abandoned remains a mystery. However, one theory is that the boat was struck by a much larger vessel shortly after leaving Halifax.

Hugo Fontaine, Canadian transportation safety board spokesman, told the Telegraph: '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.' 

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.

Ms Packwood, who described herself as a 'adventurer, artist, bard-in-training, co-creator, intuitive healer, humanitarian, musician, nature-lover, singer-songwriter, traveller and writer', volunteered as a humanitarian aid worker in Rwanda following the country's brutal genocide in 1994.

She met Mr Clibbery in 2015 at a bus stop opposite the Department for International Development office in London, and later quit her job, sold her London flat and joined him on the Theros in Salt Spring Island, Canada.