The easiest way to get them underway would have been for Alfred to just untie everything and given the boat a nice shove from the dock, and then started explaining things once they were out in the water, but that wouldn't have been an entirely authentic experience. If Evander had just asked to go out on a pleasure cruise, Alfred would have gotten them underway himself and maybe just offered to include Evander once she was properly moving, with full sails and a gentle wake behind her. Evander could have steered a little, maybe taken one line in a bit if he seemed particularly keen. But he was supposed to be learning, which meant doing the whole thing.

"Alright, so start with untying her on one side," Alfred explained from his position on the boat, gesturing at the cleats on the dock on the starboard side of the little sail boat. "Then you come around here and undo the fore one. Toss all the lines in as you go. Then you'll undo this last one," he continued, with another gesture. "And, er — then you'll push her off." He was having some trouble with this bit, not because it was difficult to explain but because it was almost impossible to picture Evander actually doing it. "So a good shove, and you come along the dock here and jump in before she gets too far out."

(Did Evander even know how to jump?)

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