TWO sailors have been found dead on board a yacht in a suspected pirate attack.
Deirdre “Cookie” Sibly, 67, and friend Pascal were on an “adventure of a lifetime” off the coast of South Africa before their bodies were found.
Sibly’s sister Sue Good told 9News: “They’ve been on the adventure of a lifetime and she was having the time of her life.
“We only know that they were found deceased on the yacht – we don’t know anything about how that happened.”
“How could this happen to two happy people doing what they loved?”
Police are now said to be probing the theory that the pair were killed.
Silbly’s family fear the culprits may have been pirates due to them being known to operate in the area where a distress signal was first made.
The Aussie sailor, dubbed the “ultimate adventurer” by friends, had been sailing across the Indian Ocean since June.
She had met up with Frenchman Pascal on Reunion Island that same month as the duo set sail down the Mozambique Channel, heading for Durban, a coastal city in South Africa.
But the pair ran into trouble in the notoriously dangerous channel near to Madagascar.
An emotional Good said the Mozambique Channel “isn’t a very safe place in the world to be sailing” and that her sister “knew that”.
A panicked call for help was sent to cops on Thursday as they rushed round to the yacht.
Inside, both seasoned sailors were found dead.
Their cause of death remains unclear with investigations ongoing.