In 1703, Balchen was transferred to the 44-gun frigate HMS "Adventure" in the North Sea. This was an area of great importance to the British war effort due to the convoys carrying naval supplies from Scandinavia, which crossed it regularly. The commission, however, yielded few opportunities in the way of prize money. The next year, he was transferred to the 54-gun HMS "Chester", with which he was dispatched to the West African Coast, a region considered almost as fatal as the West Indies. Surviving once again, Balchen remained in the "Chester" and was attached to the convoys bound for Portugal and Virginia.