I just bought a 1996 Catalina 250 fin keel model. I did quite a bit of research before picking up the boat regarding stepping the mast. I made a gin pole for lowering the mast which worked well. My only issue was the mast didn't want to lower so easily. It appeared to be binding at the base of the mast, and would not release to lower properly. The mast had a hard rubber piece at the base that was not rotating and was binding. Once I knocked that piece forward a couple of inches, the mast began to drop fine. After the mast was down, I noticed this rubber spacer was screwed into a plate that was riveted into the mast base. The spacer has an angle cut on one end, but the mast was stepped with the angle located on top and forward; which does not make any sense to me. Do C250's all have this hard rubber spacer? If so, does the angle mount at the bottom aft; which would make more sense to facilitate lowering? BTW, I bent the mast step and through bolt because the boom vang bail jammed up in the step. Maybe because I lowered it too far before removing it from the step? I will remove the bail next time prior to lowering. I don't plan on stepping the mast often, but just for future reference I would like to know how to properly place the spacer if it in fact should be there.