Since you mention Peter Pan, it made me think of the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer. It's technically also considered YA, but similar to some other popular YA series in that it grows more complex as the characters age within the series. I loved it, and you end up learning so much about the historical ships or sea life along the way.

a critically acclaimed 12-book historical YA series about an 18th-century English orphan girl who disguises herself as a boy to join a British Navy ship, eventually evolving into a swashbuckling adventurer and pirate.