the royal national lifeboat institution (rnli) stationed a lifeboat at portloe in 1870 but it was withdrawn in 1887 without ever having performed a rescue. it was kept at first in a boat house built at the end of the road above the beach. it proved difficult to move the boat across the beach so a new house was built in 1877 nearer the water. the first house was converted into a church; the second was a school for a while but has since become a private dwelling house.