Adventure-seeking B.C. couple confirmed as victims found on Nova Scotia island: relative

The couple whose remains recently washed ashore a remote Nova Scotia island have been identified as 70-year-old James Brett Clibbery and his 54-year-old wife, Sarah Packwood.

The British Columbia couple whose remains recently washed ashore on Nova Scotia’s remote Sable Island have been identified as 70-year-old James Brett Clibbery and his 54-year-old wife, Sarah Packwood.

Clibbery’s sister, Lynda Spielman, said Tuesday the RCMP had confirmed their identities.

Spielman, a Calgary resident, said she’s heard many theories about what happened to the adventurous couple after June 11 when they left Halifax harbour in a 13-metre sailboat en route to the Azores.

Spielman declined to speculate on what went wrong during what was intended to be a 3,200-kilometre voyage to the Portuguese archipelago, and the Mounties have said they are still investigating.

On Monday, the RCMP confirmed they had identified Clibbery’s body with the help of the province’s medical examiner’s office, but they declined to release his name, citing privacy legislation.

The Mounties previously confirmed the couple’s sailboat, Theros, was reported missing on June 18. But it wasn’t until July 10 — nearly a month after they set sail — that their bodies were found in a three-metre inflatable boat on Sable Island, about 280 kilometres southeast of Halifax.

The Theros has yet to be found. A spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which investigates marine accidents, said the agency is still gathering information about the boat’s disappearance.

Clibbery and Packwood, who lived on B.C.’s Salt Spring Island, described themselves as adventure travellers. They routinely posted details of their trips on a YouTube channel called “Theros Sailing Adventures.”