Hi I have a 2002 Merc XR6, yesterday was probably my tenth trip in the new boat and I had not encountered this problem yet. Problem is after going through some rough water on my way back to the ramp to pick up a friend when I went to start the motor again it was stuck in neutral. (once i shifted to neutral to turn off the motor it would not go back in forward)

I figured out that the shift linkage came loose (it is not a broken cable), and was able to fix it on the fly. Problem is I had to fix it on the fly 4 more times throughout the day. Pretty annoying having to take the cowling off and make this fix in order to run to my next spot.

Did I break off a piece that would hold the linkage in place? I could not see anything that looked broken and could not locate any pieces floating around in the motor. I will take some pictures in a little bit if need be.

figured it out...