Father disembarks from tender, moving nimbly (5)
I believe the answer is:
agile
'moving nimbly' is the definition.
'father disembarks from tender' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'fr'.
'disembarks from' is a deletion indicator.
'tender' becomes 'fragile'.
'fragile' with 'fr' removed is 'AGILE'.
(Other definitions for agile that I've seen before include "Nifty" , "Nimble on the feet" , "Quick to move" , "Nimble, active" , "Quick and easy-moving" .)