Patent ID: 8430050

Claim:
A method of locking and unlocking an extendable column with a deck for an offshore floating platform with a deck-to-column connection assembly, the column having a top and a perimeter surface and a column pocket formed in the perimeter surface, the deck having a deck pocket circumferentially aligned with the column pocket, and the deck-to-column connection assembly having a pawl coupled to the column or deck and selectively retractable in the column pocket or deck pocket, a first actuator coupled to the pawl, a column cantilever extending outward from the column beyond the column perimeter and overlapping a recessed deck surface, a removable shim, and a second actuator coupled to the shim, the method comprising: when the column is in an at least partially ballasted first position, moving a pawl sideways with the first actuator so that the pawl is engaged in both the column pocket and the deck pocket with an amount of vertical pocket clearance remaining in at least one of the pockets; at least partially de-ballasting the column to a second position to decrease the amount of vertical pocket clearance from the first position; creating a gap between the column cantilever and the recessed deck surface limited by the amount of vertical pocket clearance in the first position; and inserting the shim in the gap with the second actuator, thereby restraining the column from moving relative to the deck to increase the vertical pocket clearance to the amount in the first position, and thereby securing the pawl within the column pocket and the deck pocket to lock the column with the deck.