Savoir-faire - The cache is not at the posted coordinates
... but they will be needed to solving this puzzle
Olivier Lavasseur, also known as La Buse (The Buzzard) was one of the most feared pirates along the coast of Africa. With speed and ruthlessness he attacked his enemies and plundered vast amounts of treasure. He is known for allegedly hiding one of the biggest treasures in pirate history, estimated at over $1 billion.
Levasseur was born sometime between 1688 – 1690 to a wealthy bourgeois family. After receiving an excellent education, he became a naval officer and privateer for the French crown. After The War of the Spanish Succession ended, he was ordered to return home with his ship, but instead he joined the Benjamin Hornigold pirate company in 1716.
Levasseur gathered hordes of treasure over the next 8 years including bars of gold and silver, dozens of boxes full of golden Guineas, diamonds, pearls, silk, art, and religious objects from the Se Cathedral in Goa, including the Flaming Cross of Goa, made of pure gold and inlaid with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. The cross was so heavy that three men could barely move it more than six Toise du Chatelet.
In 1724 he retreated to a secret hiding location on the Seychelles archipelago. Eventually he was captured near Fort Dauphin, Madagascar. He was then taken to Saint-Denis, Réunion, and hanged for piracy at 5 PM on July 7, 1730. While he stood on the scaffold to be hanged, Levasseur tore a necklace containing a cryptogram with clues to his treasure. He threw the necklace into the crowd and exclaimed: "Mes trésors à qui saura comprendre !" (Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!)
The necklace itself has been lost, but treasure hunters have since tried to decode the cryptogram, hoping its solution will lead to a treasure. Based on a masonic substitution cipher, the cryptogram's message was kept secretly and over the years has been the subject of several hoaxs. As a result, several fake and clearly bogus ciphers have surfaced over the years.
Battre le fer pendant qu’il est chaud.
Below is yet another cryptogram written in the style of Olivier Lavasseur infamous puzzle. My appologies that you will not find a treasure in wealth equal to Lavasseur's cache, but you will find a small lock and lock type container, hidden in a typical geocaching fashion.
Some references and history that may or maynot be helpful:
Can you solve the deadly 300 year old cryptogram of pirate Olivier Lavasseur
Pirates & Privateers - Olivier Levasseur
Cipher Foundation - la Buse Cryptogram
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
This cache is certified Central Jersey!
Additional notes about this puzzle (aka The Fine Print):
There are several steps they you will need to follow to decypher this message, this will give you a set of clues very similar to letterbox clues.
There is information in the riddle to determine the final coordinates accurately.