Vacation T-shirt turns into family business

By Laurie A. Ovens Patey
NH Mirror Contributor

An inspirational idea for Sue Jenkins’ family vacation T-shirts has turned into an inspiration for sailors around New Hampshire and the world.

“We started sailing five years ago,” Jenkins said. “My husband, David, and I had a friend who had a sailboat for sale. We kept thinking maybe we wanted to buy it, but we had never sailed before.”

Sailing has brought Sue Jenkins, who owns the Sail Free or Die product company with her husband, to some beautiful, tropical locales. Courtesy Photo

“We had free mooring available on Lake Massabesic, so we bought lots of books and joined a yacht club.” Jenkins recommends “Sailing for Dummies” for beginners.

At first they were very nervous, but they worked hard to get the hang of it.

“There was a lot of yelling and laughing that first summer,” she said. “Soon sailing became our passion.

“We went sailing with another couple in the Caribbean and thought we can do this, so the next year we took our boat and went on our own as a family, with my sister and mother.”

While planning the vacation, the family decided they wanted matching shirts.

“While brainstorming, we realized that the outline of the state of New Hampshire looks like the main sail of our boat,” she said. “Then we thought it would be a fun play on words to say ‘Sail Free of Die.’”

After the T-shirts were made, they set off on their trip. People thought their shirts were great and began asking were they could get them.

“We decided to offer the shirt and other products to the New Hampshire sailing community,” she said.

Now Sail Free or Die operates from a Web site. “I have the shirts made right here in Manchester,” said Jenkins, who lives in Auburn. “We would like to go nationwide, make the logo more generic and make ‘Sail Free or Die’ the sailor’s motto to live by.”

Her dream is to make enough money from Sail Free or Die so they can retire from their day jobs and spend their days sailing and doing their other passion – working with kids and the elderly through the non-profit organization they co-founded with another couple, Work Camp New England.

Founded in 1989, the organization holds two-week Christian camps where student volunteers do minor repair work on the homes of the elderly, needy and disabled. The labor and materials are provided at no charge to the homeowner.

“They travel here from around the country to participate in the work camp program,” Jenkins said. “It is really a ministry. This year we will do about 30 sites over two weeks with 250 high school and college-age young adults and their leaders.”

For more information, visit www.sailfreeordie.com or call 483-2547.