Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so the crowd ¹  would not press toward him.

So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats ¹  and came to Capernaum ²  looking for Jesus.

Meanwhile the other disciples came with the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from land, only about a hundred yards. ¹ 

The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake ¹  realized that only one small boat ²  had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded ³  it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.