Mark 3:9
And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
Because the crowd was pressing around him, Jesus told his disciples to keep a small boat in readiness for him. He entered the small boat close to the shore and preached from it to the people gathered on the beach. From that place offshore he made room to teach the multitude along the shore without being crowded and interrupted by them.
The verse belongs to a gathering by the sea where many people came to Jesus seeking healing and teaching. The crowd there grew so large that the narrow beach could not hold or accommodate it. Jesus therefore moved to a level place on the mountain where the people could gather around him and hear him.