The station was established on 18 August 1967, after trials through the previous winter convinced the RNLI that this stretch of Sutherland coast needed permanent cover. The North Minch is exposed, the Atlantic weather brutal, and the nearest other all-weather stations are far apart. A lifeboat at Lochinver covers a broad swathe of water from the Summer Isles north past Stoer Head and on toward the far northwest corner of Scotland. The 1966-67 trials assessed not just whether a station was needed but what kind of boat could work from there - the harbour's tides, the winter swells, the distances any rescue might involve.

Between 1978 and 1985 the station operated the 52-foot Barnett-class Ramsay Dyce (ON 944), built by Groves and Guttridge in 1958. When she retired in 1985 the station did something unusual: it brought back her predecessor, George Urie Scott, for another four years of service. Few stations have run two boats backwards through their fleet like that. In 1989 the 52-foot Murray Lornie took over. Meanwhile, Ramsay Dyce was sold and became a private dive boat. On 3 May 1992, she performed one last service - responding to a coastguard alert about five divers in a small inflatable in Ardmucknish Bay whose engine had failed. The retired lifeboat reached them, brought them safely back to Dunstaffnage Bay, and effectively saved lives one more time after retirement.

On a single rescue in 2016, the entire on-call crew at Lochinver was recognised by the RNLI with a Letter of Thanks from the Chairman - and Coxswain David MacAskill personally received the RNLI Bronze Medal for gallantry. The recipients tell you something about how small communities run their own emergency services: Stuart Gudgeon (Mechanic), Robert Kinnaird (Navigator), James MacAskill, John K. Templeton, Joseph MacKay, and Lachlan D. MacAskill - all crew members, the surname MacAskill recurring three times. These are families that crew lifeboats across generations. Eight years later, on 10 January 2024, Coxswain David MacAskill was formally appointed a deputy lieutenant for Sutherland - a county-level honour that recognised both his RNLI service and his broader role in the community.

The current lifeboat, 17-40 Julian and Margaret Leonard (ON 1271), arrived at Lochinver on 25 November 2003. She is a Severn-class boat: 17 metres long, twin diesel engines, self-righting, capable of about 25 knots. In 2004 a new pontoon berth was built at a cost of £291,798 so she could remain afloat year-round rather than be hauled out between services. Naming was on 17 April 2004. From her berth at the harbour, she can launch within minutes - critical on a coast where a fishing boat in trouble may be twenty or thirty miles offshore before help arrives. The Penza boathouse beside the pontoon serves as crew base and equipment store. Eugenie Boucher never saw it. Her bequest still works.