The Great Marlin Easter Egg Hunt (or, The Something Hilarious)

"I found one!" came Eve's whispered voice when she got up on Easter morning.

Today was the day that The Something Hilarious happened.

After my post earlier this week, Eve kept asking me, "Has the Something Hilarious Happened yet?"

Not yet, I'd reply. Last night she said, "Is the Something Hilarious still going to happen?"

I pondered this as if I had no control over the matter and really wasn't sure. " I don't know," I answered.

Then in the morning, I got up early, put the bread pudding in the oven and got to work hiding Easter eggs.

Can you spot three eggs?

When it was time for my daily wake-up call I hollered, "Good morning, foc'sle. When you get up, you are not allowed to touch any interesting things you might see en route to breakfast!"

Eve was already up and about, looking into her various projects. "Aaahhh!" she groaned after peeking into the barrel where the hoses are stored. And when she came into the galley for her coffee she said, "I'm trying really hard not to look."

"Look all you want," I said, "Just don't touch.

I had asked Captain Flash's consent for the hunt a few days prior, so when the subject came up at dinner one night, and Smith asked if we could have a hunt, I shot Cap' a look. "No-ho," she'd said (though there were signs of a faint grin on her face).

On Saturday night I asked Cap' if she wanted to help hide eggs. "Have we met?" she asked. Cap' is not a morning person and doesn't join us for breakfast. We discussed the timing of the hunt and decided it would start once the last flag halyard was secured. This required them to come to breakfast first, and then she added muster to that, so you can imagine the mad dash that ensued after Cap' called muster to an end and said, "Ready, set, go!"

The hunt is on.

Full-contact Easter Egg Hunt
I got the idea from my friend Lia, who held one every year. The objective? To collect the most eggs the fastest while still being excellent to your ship.

These were the rules:
Rule 1 - All eggs are fair game. Yes, even those in other people's baskets. Conclusion of this rule: guard your eggs.
Rule 2 - No hitting or tripping. But jostling, holding, tickling, etc., are all permissable.
Rule 3- There are 36 eggs. it's quantity, not quality. But a special prize is reserved for one egg in particular.

It had been Cap's only condition placed on the hunt. We had to find all the eggs.

They found every egg but one.

Last Egg Standing
Cap' and I stood talking after the hunt, and it was driving me crazy that I had lost an egg. I went looking again, one last time. I finally found it in the folds of the mainsail. I stood looking at it, waiting for her to find it.

Cap' had not participated in the hunt because it was a little too aggressive for her taste.

Smith poked her head out of the aft cabin and immediately spotted the egg. But Cap' saw it and swooped it up just in time.

Later in the day, I was about to say something to Eve and then stopped myself; I thought, "I'll write it instead." But she read my mind.

"It was hilarious," she said.

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P.S.

The throw-down.

It was Harrison, who won, by hook or by crook. He loaded the pockets of his Carharts with his eggs, thereby keeping them protected. He also made a play for Bly's eggs, which went rolling all over the deck, causing a flurry of deckhands to congregate around the fallen basket. This is why, at the end of the hunt, Smith and Bly each had two unmatched egg shell halves. I just stood on the sidelines making sound effects.

As Winner, of both the Most Eggs Found and of the Specially Placed Egg, Harrison won his choice of spirits, to be enjoyed once we arrive in Greenport, as well as his choice of dessert one evening during the transit.

Bread pudding.

Easter's Menu
Breakfast
Bread pudding with cranberries (Harrison helped me make it the night before. When I told him he could choose what to add and how much, with characteristic judiciousness, he put in about ten cranberries. The good thing about this was, just as with an Easter Egg hunt, you were always surprised and delighted when you found one.)
Lunch

A simple ham, sailor-style.

Ham with pineapple in a maple-brown sugar glaze
Applesauce
Sweet potato soufflé
Salad with toasted walnuts
Rye bread
Dinner
Goulash with noodles
Onion goulash for Eve
Leftover baked potatoes
Buttered, candied carrots
Stewed kale
Salad
Leftover buns
Dessert
Pineapple upside down cake