Brief History; In a severe northerly gale on December 2nd and 3rd 1863, about 18 ships that had been sheltering in Porthdinllaen bay, were driven ashore and wrecked. Robert Rees of Morfa Nefyn, tied a rope around his waist and, with the help of 4 other men, succeeded in saving a total of 28 lives.

The Rev. Owen Lloyd Williams of Boduan, wrote to the R.N.L.I. reporting on the results of recent gales, and asked for a lifeboat station to be established at Porthdinllaen. The R.N.L.I.'s inspector of lifeboats, visited the area the following February, and recommended the forming of this lifeboat station, which was formally approved at a meeting of the  management in March 1864.

In 1864 the first boathouse was built at a cost of £140, The first lifeboat arrived at Porthdinllaen on August 26th 1864, she was carried free-of-charge from London and Caernarfon by rail, and then she was sailed to Porthdinllaen. The Cotton Sheppard, cost £250, she was 36 ft long, and had 12 oars and was self-righting, and Hugh Hughes became her first Coxswain.

There have been eight Lifeboats at Porthdinllaen since 1864, plus some temporary boats that I haven't listed.

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