Marty,



Congrats on the purchase! I hope we can help in any way.



I must appologize for I am not that familiar with the sea spray mast base setup. However, the large majority of us step the mast by leaving both sidestays connected but the forestay (the cable that the jib slides up on) loose. Most cats now also have a captive mast base that eliminates the need to tie the base down during stepping. Whether you have a captive base or a tied down base, the stepping procedure is pretty much the same:



Have the mast on the ball and someone holding up the rear of the mast that should be pointed straight out to the back of the boat. You (or whoever the strongbody is) are standing on the trampoline as your assistant walks the mast up to you. Once they've reached the limit of their reach, you give it a good heave - trying to keep some downward pressure on the mast base - and you should find it needs very little forward stability once you have it on the ball, raised, both sidestays still attached. While you hold the mast upright, your assistant should attach the forestay. There are ways to do this by yourself but I recommend you try this several times with assistance before considering trying.



There are still a few sea sprays out there but I imagine parts would be difficult to come by. Good luck and happy sailing!