Couple who washed ashore to Sable Island fled from boat fire, report finds

CITYnews halifax / By The Canadian Press and Natasha O’Neill

An investigation has concluded there was a fire aboard a sailboat that disappeared south of Nova Scotia’s Sable Island last summer, leading to the deaths of two people — an adventurous couple from British Columbia.

The Transportation Safety Board says it looked into the possibility that the sailboat Theros had been struck by a tanker in the area on June 13, but the board concluded there was no link between the two vessels.

The remains of the two experienced sailors, 70-year-old James Brett Clibbery and his 54-year-old wife, Sarah Packwood, were found in a dinghy washed ashore on Sable Island on July 10, indicating they had abandoned the sailboat.

Related:

• 2 bodies found on the shore of Sable Island: Multi-agency response
• Adventure-seeking B.C. couple were the two found on Sable Island
• Pair from B.C. found dead in boat washed ashore on Nova Scotia’s Sable Island

The Theros has yet to be found.

The safety board’s report says one of the victims was found wearing a flotation suit that had been damaged by fire. Investigators concluded the suit had been burned while the victim was wearing the one-piece outfit.

Three weeks before rescuers went out

According to the report, it was several weeks later before rescuers made an attempt at finding Theros and its passengers.

The couple were on board for a two-three-week trip to Azores, Portugal, with the boat prepped with an identification system that bounces off satellites. It also had a communication device that would automatically transmit the boat’s position to a website, which could be used by the crew to send text messages.

On June 18, just eight days after the vessel left Halifax Harbour, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) got a phone call from a “concerned individual.”

They indicated that the boat’s position had not been updated recently on the website. The last update was on June 13, three days after leaving the port, from a position southwest of Sable Island.

The person who called told JRCC there was an emergency radio on board.

“The JRCC used various means to try contacting the Theros directly, but did not receive a response,” the report reads. “Without a distress signal from the Theros and without it being overdue at its destination, there was no way to determine its status.”

There was no alerts that could be linked to the boat and without a formal sailing plan with stated expectations for communication from the crew, JRCC deemed the “absence of communication was not considered a concern.”

By July 2, three weeks later, Theros did not arrive in Azores as planned and therefore was overdue, forcing an investigation into its last known position.

On July 10 the two bodies in the dinghy were found washed ashore on Sable Island.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2025.