Oda's structural formula is no secret to anyone and this beginning of the arc repeats it.
So, more serious than the slow pace, is the creation of artificial problems, which fit in with Oda's way of writing, but which, realistically, shouldn't exist. If the character introduced was a high-profile unknown, it would even be justified. But what's even stranger is that he decided to wrap up this part of the story with a subordinate of a captain that Luffy easily defeated in a single blow.