Hay River (Sep 20/04) - Pavel (Paul) Misata has spent much of his life on Northern waters. That was after sailing all over the world -- the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.

In 1973, he first came North when he was hired as a second mate by Northern Transportation Company Ltd.

Since then, he has sailed all over the North and currently captains The Kakisa, an NTCL harbour tug in Hay River.

Misata says he likes working in Hay River, rather than sailing the high seas.

"Jobs working in harbours are often considered good jobs among sea-going people when you get older," says the 60-year-old. "You don't feel like spending so much time at sea and all over."

And when he's not working, he enjoys his other passion -- flying his Cessna 180.

Misata says he was drawn to the North by the open spaces, the freedom and Jack London's stories about the Yukon.

Jumped ship

Originally from the former Czechoslovakia, Misata left the then-Communist country in 1968 when a democracy movement was crushed by invading Soviet forces.

Actually, he was in Havana, Cuba, when he heard about the invasion.

"The seaman on watch woke us up and he was shouting, 'Russian tanks are in Prague.'"

He decided not to return to Czechoslovakia and jumped ship in Germany.

Misata, who became a Canadian citizen in 1975, did not return to his homeland to visit until 1992. "After the Iron Curtain came down."

On Misata's first trip north in 1973, the vessel he was working on towed a barge containing his current ship, The Kakisa.

In his time in the North, he has worked on or captained numerous vessels -- the ferry at Fort Simpson, The Norweta tourist vessel, oil exploration supply ships on the Arctic Ocean and fishing vessels on Great Slave Lake.

He has been captain of The Kakisa for about five years. The 1,500-horsepower vessel, which is also known as a yarding boat, moves barges around the mouth of the Hay River as they are loaded and off-loaded.

His life on the water began when he was a teenager in Prague, working on old steamers on a river. Misata says he was attracted to a life on the sea by the freedom it offered.

"In Communist countries, when everyone is kept inside, you want to get out," he explained. "That was one of the attractions."