As with the majority of the Royal Navy, Balchen was placed in reserve at the war's conclusion and returned to England to await further deployment. Whilst there, he married Susannah Apreece, daughter of an army colonel. The marriage produced six children, two of whom survived into adulthood; Frances, who later married Temple West (Vice Admiral Temple West) and George, who followed his father into the Navy. In 1701, Balchen was again at sea, commanding the small fireships HMS "Firebrand" and then HMS "Vulcan" with Sir George Rooke's fleet off the Spanish coast at the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession. He was probably engaged during the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702, where Rooke's fleet captured a Spanish treasure fleet and was instrumental in the capture of the 56-gun "Modéré", which he went on to briefly command as HMS "Modéré".