Sentence:  Weighed anchor about five morn, and plied till about noon, and then anchored. This day, at morn, went about the general to council: the result was, the fleet should <WSD>ply</WSD> near, as with convenience, to the Texel, to prevent a conjunction of those ships there with Admiral w:Maarten Tromp 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To manoeuvre a sailing vessel so that the direction of the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other; to work to windward, to beat, to tack.