 On 17 May 1683 the pirates arrived off the coast of Veracruz with a small fleet which included five large vessels, eight smaller vessels and around 1300 pirates.At the head of the fleet sailed two Spanish warships, previously captured by van Hoorn, designed to confuse the townsfolk into thinking the fleet was Spanish.While the fleet was anchored offshore, de Graaf and Yankey Willems were landed some distance from the town and waited until early the following morning.