Photo: Samuel Rillstone/RNZ
A Marlborough Sounds father and son spent 12 hours on the Bluebridge ferry Connemara and now face returning home without their boat and car.
The ferry was towed back to Wellington in the early hours of Friday after it lost power and spent several hours drifting in the Cook Strait.
Glenn Isles, of Duncan Bay, told RNZ it was a normal sailing, "until it broke down".
What was meant to be a quick sailing home became a 12-hour trip back to their starting location.
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Isles had nothing but praise for the response from staff and crew.
"They've been brilliant, bent over backwards to sort everybody out.
"They were gonna put us up for the night and everything."
Instead, Isles and his son Jackson have opted to take a ferry to Picton on Friday afternoon, even while their car and boat remain trapped on the Connemara.
"[I said] you guys deliver my car and boat over when that can come off. And yeah, no problem at all."
'Perils of having less ships'
Meanwhile, the national road freight association said it was concerned to hear about the Connemara's troubles.
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand interim chief executive Dom Kalasih said it was a huge relief that no one was at risk.
"No matter who is operating the ferry services across the Strait, we all need a reliable, safe platform that is cost effective and fit for purpose.
"It's also a reminder of the perils of having less ships rather than more."