Jesus and the disciples would have been crossing from the west to the east side of the lake (cf. Mark 5:1). Fewer people lived on the east side. Evidently Jesus wanted to get away from the multitudes that had given Him no rest all that day ( Mark 3:20 to Mark 4:34) and before. Mark normally did not give precise time designations. Probably he did so here to impress the reader with Jesus" extreme busyness that moved Him to withdraw temporarily. [source][source][source]