I built an outrigger basically the same way, except the kayak was seaworthy on it's own. I used that outrigger setup to do very-near-shore free-diving.

It's about the outrigger. Whenever I came in, even in a very small (18") surf in my little lagoon, the water would turn me 90 degrees, and i would basically crash ashore. I always had to jump out and run the boat in, which can be tricky in surge. Once I came in on about a 24" breaker height, and it uncontrollably filled the kayak and rolled it, sucking it in and out of the waves. I lost some stuff, and I learned to never pick up a high-amp lead-acid trolling battery, they shock like hell when covered with saltwater. I was lucky not to knock my head and go unconscious and drown on that outing.

Unless you plan to use your rig in quiet, small water, I worry about the buoyancy of your outrigger. It's probably about two to three time less volume than ideal. For windy, moderate chop, you need a lot of outrigger buoyancy so you can lean on your outrigger while paddling like crazy, and make your boat unsinkable, giving it properties similar to a tripod. The three tripod points are : the front of your kayak, the back of your kayak, and the outrigger. It's a bad feeling when you find your outrigger sinking just when you need it most. But if your outrigger can strongly support 1/3 of your weight, your rig is unsinkable in anything other than an overturning surf.

Taking water aboard in bad seas is another topic. It may need decks, even a fabric one (fabric worked for me with a canoe on the salmon River in Idaho. We could punch through tall, green waves and ship very little water.), a man-hole so you can sit real low, and hatches for access to your gear.

It's really fun to climb in and out of your boat between the outrigger and the boat. Piece of cake. I used to do it in the ocean on calm days, fully weighed down by the lead weight belt and my soaked wetsuit, and all I had for cross members were 2 X 2's, like you.

I hope you're having fun,

Roger

: Below is a shot of Gary doing some kind of dance around the boat the day
: before he launched it. Must be a New Zealand or some Fijian cultural
: ceremony.

: Notice how well he achieved the yellow color match between the boat and the
: cooking oil can. That must have been a priority.

: Not sure about the wheels, though. A more efficient boat would probably do
: without them.

: Also notice the large can of olives he appears to be packing in the stern
: hatch. Probably part of his survival kit.

: I'm learning new stuff every day with this guy!

: Cheers from Fiji,

: John