The pop top on the Ensenada 20 is supported by two stainless tubes in four "hinges." Each hinge is a nylon (or Delrin, or whatever it is) donut attached with three thread-forming screws into the edge of the deck at the main hatch. The screws had long since worked loose in Anungoday's deck. In fact, from the number of holes in the deck behind those hinges, it was clear they had worked loose and been moved to new holes more than once by previous owners. Maybe the moral is that three thread-forming screws just into the deck edge might not be secure enough for the pop top hinges.
What our solution may lack in aesthetic appeal we think it makes up in
sturdiness.
The sections of 1.5" x 1.5", 1/8" thick aluminum angle are inserted up into the
deck, just outboard of the lib where the hinges attach, into slots carved into
the deck from below with the long hole-cutting bits now available for the
Dremel.
They were drilled and tapped for machine screws and the hinges are now rock
solid for the first time I can remember.
The protruding bottoms of the aluminum angles could be painted or covered with
some sort of trim, but...next year...it's time to go sailing.
They could also make nice attaching points for handholds or the like.
To the port ones,
we have attached a line and bungee to limit the travel of the pop top
so it can't whang the mast; we also attach a bungee to the port ones to secure
the rudder in the cabin when trailering.
Also visible in the picture is a deck heat shield cut off a roll of aluminum flashing. For a trip to Lake St. Clair at the end of April, we invested in an Origo 5100 "Heat Pal" nonpressurized alcohol heater/stove. It fits very nicely into the galley sink, which holds it secure and a little farther below the deck than it would be sitting on the counter. Even so, we had to put a heat shield above it. The aft edge of the aluminum flashing is just folded into the flex-trim that runs around the hatchway edges; the forward edge is held with extra nuts on the bolts that come down from a couple halyard turning blocks at the mast base. The shield sits about 1/4" below the surface of the deck itself and does a good job keeping the deck cool with the Origo blazing beneath it.