Josee (Jade) Chabot of Montreal had been missing since Feb 24.
With luck, sailor Josée (Jade) Chabot will be safe at home in Montreal to celebrate her 50th birthday at the end of the month.
But for now, family members fear that she and a handful of others aboard the SS Columbia, including a B.C. woman, are shipwrecked off the coast of earthquake-ravaged Chile.
Officials in Canada, Ecuador and Chile are scouring South American coastlines to find the 13-foot sailboat that was supposed to arrive at Coquimbo, Chile, on Feb. 24 but never made it.
The British boat fell off the radar after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake ripped through Chile on Feb. 27, killing hundreds of people. Two more aftershocks rippled through the country Thursday.
Ms. Chabot's husband, Martin Neufeld, said he is concerned about tsunamis and dwindling supplies on the sailboat that set out on Jan. 16 for a 40-day trip.
"I am even more concerned that the focus will be shifted from this search to handle local emergencies," he said from Thailand Thursday night.
Foreign Affairs Canada spokesman Andre Lemay said the government is "aware of the reports of two Canadians were aboard a sailboat sailing from Ecuador and Chile at the time of the earthquake in Chile."
"Our embassies both in Santiago, Chile and Quito are working closely with the local authorities to find information … and make contact with the individuals."
Canadian authorities told the family they completed over-flight surveillance from Iquique in Northern Chile up to the north border with Peru and 555 kilometres out to sea.
But there has yet to be an aerial search over the Robinson Crusoe Island (also known as the San Fernandez Archipelago), about 570 kilometres off the coast of Chile, where Ms. Chabot and others were supposed to journey before coming to port at Coquimbo.
An e-mail sent to Mr. Neufeld by the Canadian Coast Guard last week said they'd had trouble tracking down the registration for the SS Columbia, captained by seaman Boguslaw Norwid.
They had checked with the Rescue Center for Valpareso, Chile, and confirmed that the Columbia never arrived in Coquimbo, nor did it enter Chilean waters.
There were doubts the skipper checked in with the proper authorities, the e-mail also read.
Ms. Chabot, a Reiki instructor working in Peru and Ecuador, was taking a course on the sailboat to become a certified skipper, Mr. Neufeld said.
He last spoke with his wife the day she set sail and says he forgot to tell her that he loved her.
Ms. Chabot's mother, 71-year-old Hélène Béland had reservations about the journey.
"I was worried, especially because the boat she was on couldn't send out messages," she said from her home in Contrecoeur, a small town in southwestern Quebec. "But what could I do? Josée is almost 50 years old. She would have gone ahead anyway."
She had expected a call from her daughter the day the sailboat was scheduled to port. That call has yet to come.
Mr. Neufeld said he has been in touch with the family of the other Canadian, a woman from Nelson, B.C. They have declined to speak with the media.
With a report from Egle Procuta