Arriving back in Plymouth, in the United Kingdom, in May to a hero’s welcome, he was knighted by the Queen in London that July.

In a letter to Rolex in 1968, he wrote: “During my voyage around the world in Gipsy Moth IV, my Rolex watch was knocked off my wrist several times without being damaged. I cannot imagine a hardier timepiece. When using [it] for sextant work and working the foredeck, it was frequently banged, also doused by waves coming aboard; but it never seemed to mind all this.”