the bodyship

This is another line quoted by Charles Bradford in The Determined Angler. I've so far failed to find out anything about the author:  

Land and Water.—"You're natural when fishing, and unnatural on shore. Fishing rubs the barnacles off your natural self, and makes your bodyship sail more easily."—B. M. Briggs.

Actually, there's another quotation from Briggs in the book and it's similarly...well, how to put it? Playful?

All Sports in Angling.—"The sport that sums up dancing, song and picture, athletics and all games of chance is angling. The waves make you dance, all pictures roll before you, any chance can win the pool, and every fishing boat is a sängerfest. "—B. M. Briggs. 

I like the strange image of the 'bodyship' rubbed clean of barnacles and the odd amalgam of dance, pictures, and games of chance, which conjures a startling image to the mind's eye.