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Porthdinllaen Lifeboat Station

Porthdinllaen Lifeboat Station

Situated on the north coast of the Lleyn Peninsula in Gwynedd, North Wales, Porthdinllaen Lifeboat Station is the home of John D Spicer, a Tamar class lifeboat. During its history the lifeboat crews have been presented with five awards for gallantry.

This station is classed as an Explore station. Explore stations offer the best visitor experience. With free access, you can go inside and look around the station, see the lifeboat and, in most cases, pre-book a tour. They are normally open all year and have an RNLI gift shop. 

Visit the station website

Recent launches from this station

Date Time
17/04/2013 14:41
24/02/2013 04:43
23/09/2012 14:54
11/09/2012 08:44
31/08/2012 11:58
28/08/2012 20:53
27/08/2012 13:53
20/08/2012 14:46
12/08/2012 13:40
11/08/2012 18:33

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Station address:

Porthdinllaen Lifeboat Station
Lon Golff Morfa Nefyn
Gwynedd
LL53 6DA

Station telephone:

01758 720241

Station opening times:

Monday–Friday 9am–5pm plus most weekends in the summer

Visitor contact:

Mike Davis

Visitor contact telephone:

01758 720241

Shop telephone:

01758 720835

Shop opening times:

Easter–October
Monday–Sunday
11am–5pm
 

Appledore ILB crew members. Left to right, Martin Davis, Gary Stanbury and Andrew HalletSpecific crew member details for this lifeboat station are not available here at the moment.

More than 4,800 lifeboat crew members around the UK and RoI drop everything when their pagers go off, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Only 1 in 10 crew members has a professional maritime occupation. Men and women of all ages and all walks of life crew the RNLI lifeboats around our coasts and waterways.

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The arrival of Porthdinllaen's new Tamar class all-weather lifeboat, John D Spicer. Photo: RNLI / Nicholas Leach

 

Lifeboat name: John D Spicer

Lifeboat class: Tamar

Funded by: the generous bequest of Mr John Dominic Spicer from Oxfordshire

Read more about the Tamar

1864
A lifeboat house constructed at a cost of £140.

1888
A new lifeboat house and slipway constructed at a cost of £1,200.

1913
On quarterly exercise of the lifeboat, Mr William Thomas, a member of the local committee, had his left foot torn off through getting it caught in the quarter stopper.  Committee of Management granted £500 to cover medical and other expenses.

1951
Silver Medal awarded to Second Coxswain William Dop for his intrepid seamanship in the rescue of three people from the yacht Waterbell that was forced to anchor close in to Porth Oer in a mass of breaking water on the night of 8/9 August.  The lifeboat arrived on scene half an hour after midnight in pitch dark and an increasing wind.  The coxswain took her between the yacht and the rocks, which enabled the three men to jump aboard.  He then brought the lifeboat out stern first and returned to station at 5.30am.

1964
A Centenary Vellum awarded.

1975
Bronze Medal awarded to Coxswain Griffith J Jones for the rescue of a man on the night of 20 September seen clinging in the dark to a rock a quarter of a mile north of the lifeboat house.  Using the lifeboat station’s boarding boat in strong gale force south-westerly winds and rough sea with a heavy swell, together with his son, negotiated the narrow channels, reached the exhausted man, and pulled him to safety aboard the boat.  His 14-year-old son Eric, who also manned the boarding boat, was awarded an inscribed wristwatch.

1977
Bronze Medal for gallantry awarded to crew member Glyn Roberts and the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum accorded to Second Coxswain Scott for the rescue of a boy trapped 80 feet up the cliff face at Porth-y-Nant on the night of 31 August/1 September.  Glyn Roberts and Second Coxswain John Scott launched lifeboat at 11.15pm and went ashore in a boarding boat between dangerous rocks in an eight foot swell.  Glyn Roberts climbed 80 foot up the cliff face to bring the boy to safety.  A second boy was also rescued from the beach.

1981
Bronze Medal for gallantry awarded to Second Coxswain Michael Massarelli in recognition of his courage, determination and seamanship when the lifeboat under his command rescued two men who had been thrown into the water when their inflatable dinghy capsized and was clinging to the side in Porthdinllaen Bay in north-easterly gale and a very rough sea on the afternoon of 25 April.

2006
It was agreed by the Operations Committee on 8 February and resolved by the Trustee Committee at their meeting on 5 April that Porthdinllaen be allocated a Tamar class lifeboat to replace the existing Tyne class lifeboat in due course.

2010
Breakwater repairs completed in October.

MEDAL RECORD
One Silver and three Bronze Medals have been awarded, the last being voted in 1981. 

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