Our passage from the DR was anything but fun although it did go pretty much as expected. We knew the wind would be on our nose which is never easy sailing but what we didn't know and the gribs failed to forecast accurately was the effects of a trough that moved in to the area after we left the DR. It was going to create stronger winds off the north coast of PR than was originally predicted and for some reason the gribs were showing light winds along the south coast of PR. From past experience we knew the daytime heating effects on the sea breeze can be quite strong along the south coast, similar to the wind funnel effect we experienced daily in Samana Bay in the DR. Seeing how the winds were coming due east, after about 12 hours of motor sailing we had to choose to tack north and up into the Atlantic way above PR or tack south and sail straight down to the southwest corner. Between the stronger predicted winds along the north coast and a confused sea state typical of the Mona Passage, with current against swell creating short, steep waves of 3-4', we chose to head south and have a pleasant 12 hour sail down toward the west coast of PR. We rounded the SW tip in mild conditions and were waiting on the daytime heating effects which did show up around 11AM on day two. With stronger winds and steeper waves we couldn't motor sail as close to the wind as desired or planned so we fell off and sailed out into the Caribbean Sea away from PR for about 4 hours before tacking back to the NNE with our destination waypoint being the east end of Vieques. The wind stayed a little south of east which made this tack manageable but now on day 3 the trades were building and it became quite uncomfortable pounding straight into the wind and waves. Once we hit the tip of Vieques we knew we wouldn't want to keep doing this into the dark to make landfall in St. Thomas so we fell off onto a beam reach going due north into Culebra. It only lasted 90 minutes but even though we were in the same wind and waves, Skylark suddenly started gliding along happy as a clam. The best laid plans... right?