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They dont affect performance significantly, and they do stop things like plastic bags getting wrapped around the prop, but you can still take cord & rope & FISHING LINE in, "end-on".
So you have to decide whether £105 is good value for money for what it does, a good measure, is to have a look at how many outboards you see with prop guards on?
I rest my case!
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[blueskip]

Well VL, the best way to put your mind at rest before taking the family out, is to source an auxillary engine in case of main engine failure, get yourself a small back-up motor.
I dont know how big your boat is, but a Seagull Silver Century/ Century+ 4/5hp will push most boats, (not against a 5 knot current), but is adequate to get you home safely in case of main engine failure, & can be picked up at most boatyards, boat jumble, or on e-bay for about the same or less than a prop guard.
I have a 50hp Mercury as a main engine, but my auxillary is a 3.5hp Suzuki, & it has brought me home a couple of times (after waiting for the right conditions), plus its great for trolling a spinner/feathers.
I am going to get a Seagull Silver Century Plus when one appears though, because although noisy & ugly they have probably been responsible for more "home runs" than any other engine.
A pair of oars are another means of easing the conscience, & it keeps the kids fit!
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[blueskip]

As ChrisP said you have an excellent set-up there, get it onto the berth, get the engines started & get familiar with what you need to do to start them, both warm & cold (how much choke, throttle etc).
Try out your GPS in "simulator" mode & get familiar with which button does what. Get yourself a chart of Swansea bay L(D1)1161, & one that covers the approaches L(D1)1165, study them, spread them out on the table, look for wrecks, reefs, holes in the bottom, The Strombus, Port Medine, Riverton, White Oyster Ledges, St Christophers Knoll off 3 Cliffs, The West Helwick, The Scarweather & Hugo Banks, get down into Port Eynon Bay & get your sounder on & "quarter" the bay looking for the little reefs that stop the buggers trawling in there, find spots between them & winkle those plaice out of there like I do. Have a look at the obvious reef that runs off Langland (look for the "horshoe") get drifting over there with a long paternoster trace baited with rag or squid, get over the White Oyster drifting with a long trace & a live sandeel, drift over the Mixon Bank from 2hrs after low water on a neap tide, with a sandeel or mackerel fillet for the turbot.
Work out the numbers from the charts, & get them written down in a book & get them into your "waypoints" guide in your GPS (If your'e not sure how to do it, send me a PM & I will show you how its done)! If they aren't "spot on" its not desperate, you can always amend them in the GPS when you find the spot with the sounder, at least you will be pretty damn close!
You are 6ft longer than me & thats a lot, you can go to America in 20ft if you pick your weather!
Get it on the water my son, you have studied long & hard & know all the theory, now is the time to put it into practice, remember just because you can do 30 knots you dont HAVE to, if you can only think at 20knots, then do 18knots, & give yourself chance to correct that little mistake, let the "Birmingham Navy" bomb along & make prats of themselves.
Starting next month I will be about the bay & Gower in "blueskip", give me a shout on Ch16, & if I am big enough for the conditions, we can bomb around & do some fishing together, but remember 14ft has its limitations & so do I!
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