Michel Dubocage sailed out of Le Havre on 6 September 1707, when his infant son was only five months old. The ship was fitted out in Brest on 23 March 1708 and rounded Cape Horn in January 1710 after spending 14 months in Argentina. Dubocage spent nearly a year sailing along the Pacific coast of South America before turning for Asia and discovering Clipperton Island on 3 April 1711. He mapped the island and dubbed it Ile de la Passion (Passion Island) because it was discovered on Good Friday. After a year's stopover in China, where he ratified one of the first Franco-Chinese trading agreements, Dubocage set sail for Peru and then Cape Horn, returning to Le Havre on 23 August 1716 after a voyage lasting nine years. Although largely unknown outside of Le Havre, Michel Dubocage takes his place among the very great French sailors of the early 18th century. The discovery and excavation of the Natière 1 wreck provides a rare opportunity to evoke his memory.
His son Joseph Michel du Bocage, a hydrographer and naturalist, was deputy mayor of Le Havre and the author of a number of works, including a memoir of the port, trade and navigation of Le Havre.
