Sarah Packwood and Brett Clippery were found dead weeks after setting off on a transatlantic voyage.

The bodies of a couple who set off on a transatlantic sailing trip have been found in a lifeboat that washed up on the waters nearly six weeks after they were last seen.

British woman Sarah Packwood and her Canadian husband Brett Clippery are believed to have abandoned their yacht and died before it was washed up on Sable Island near Nova Scotia in Canada on July 12.

The couple reportedly went missing on June 18 after leaving Nova Scotia in their 13-metre (42-foot) eco-friendly yacht, called Theros, a week earlier.

They were on their way to the Azores – about 3,228 kilometres away – and the journey was scheduled to take 21 days.

in Posted on FacebookMr Kleberi’s son James confirmed the couple’s deaths, saying the last few days had been “very difficult”.

He said the couple would be “forever missed”, adding: “Nothing can fill the void left by their still unexplained passing.”

It is not yet clear how the couple’s dream transatlantic journey ended in tragedy. Police said a joint investigation was underway after the bodies were found.

The BBC has contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

One theory investigators are exploring is that the yacht was struck by a passing cargo ship that failed to notice the collision, according to Canadian news site Saltwire.

An anonymous source told SaltWire that “the sailboat crew was unable to avoid the collision” or that they may have been down with Theros on autopilot.

The Canadian Coast Guard and military aircraft did not spot any wreckage or any sign of the boat, the SaltWire reported.

In a video posted to their YouTube channel, Theros Adventures, the duo explained how their journey — which they’ve dubbed the “Green Odyssey” — will rely on sails, solar panels, batteries and an electric motor repurposed from a car.

“We are doing everything we can to show that you can travel without burning fossil fuels,” Mr. Kleberi said in the video, which was posted on April 12.

“This is probably the biggest adventure of our lives so far,” Ms. Packwood added.

The pair met by chance in London in 2015, when Ms Packwood was preparing to donate a kidney to her sister and Mr Clippery, a retired engineer, was visiting.

They married in Canada on their yacht a year later, before confirming their vows in a traditional ceremony at Stonehenge in 2017, according to Ms Packwood’s personal blog.

Ms Packwood, from Warwickshire, worked in Rwanda with the UN after the 1994 genocide and has extensive experience of humanitarian work.

What will be their situation? Final post on June 11“Captain Brett and his co-pilot Sarah set sail on the second leg of the Green Odyssey on their 42ft Theros-Gypsy sailboat. Powered by the wind and the sun. Heading east to the Azores,” the couple wrote on Facebook.