Including the "Duke," "Dutchess," and "Batchelor," a fleet of twenty-five armed ships was now ready to sail under the command of a Dutch flag, vice- and rear-admiral. For though really only armed merchantmen, the commanders of these Dutch Indiamen, most of which were a thousand tons, took the rank and state of officers in the Dutch navy. And it must have been a picturesque scene in Table Bay, when at daybreak on the 5th of April "the Flag hoisted a blue ensign, loos'd his foretopsail, and fir'd a gun as the signal to unmoor." In doing which on board the "Duke," Rogers says, "our cable rubb'd against the oakum, which for a time had partially stopped the leak, and occasioned his ship to be as leaky as ever, after having been indifferent tight for some time." As soon as the fleet was under weigh, the captains of the English vessels were signalled to go on board the flag-ship, to receive their order of sailing, &c., "which were very particular and obligatory to be punctually observ'd."
A voyage from the Cape to the Texel, even by the direct route up the British Channel, was a long one in those days for a fleet of this size, touching nowhere, and with over 5,000 men to feed; but the course they steered, away across the Atlantic to the westward of the Azores, and then north-eastward as far as the Shetlands, almost doubled the length of it. The squadron crossed the line on the 14th of May, "being the eighth time we have done so," says Rogers, "in our course round the world." This was thirty-eight days after leaving the Cape, giving a mean speed of rather more than three miles an hour. The Spanish ship, the "Batchelor," seems to have been the dullest sailer among them, for Rogers speaks of often taking her in tow, and of the Dutch admiral's "civility in allowing her to keep ahead of the fleet at night, which he would not permit any other ship to do." No collisions or disasters of any sort are recorded during the whole of this long voyage, the monotony of which was varied on the 15th of June by an entertainment on board the flag-ship to the skippers of the English, and some of the Dutch ships, "when the good humour of the Admiral soon made all the company understand each other without a linguist." While on reaching latitude 51 north, thick foggy weather prevailed for many days, "during which the Flag-ship fir'd two guns every half hour, each ship answering with one, which consum'd a great deal of powder, but by the noise of the guns it was easy to keep company, though often so thick that we could not see three ship's lengths" (equal to about one now).