ishmael encounters the ship after he arrives in nantucket and learns of three ships that are about to leave on three-year cruises. tasked by his new friend, the polynesian harpooner queequeg (or more precisely, queequeg's idol-god, yojo), to make the selection for them both, ishmael, a self-described "green hand at whaling," goes to the straight wharf and chooses the "pequod".