Octane is a measurement of how explosive the gasoline is. The higher the octane rating, the less explosive the gas is. Higher octane prevents preignition. As the Gas/Air mixture is compressed in the cylinder it heats up. The higher the compression the hotter it gets. If it gets too hot it will ignite before the spark plug fires, and cause engine knock, which will damage engine bearings and burn holes in piston heads.
Octane is not a measurement of the energy contained in the gas, so a higher octane does not provide more power or better gas mileage. If your car or boat engine sounds like it's full of marbles, especially if you are in 4th gear going up a hill or accelerating hard, your engine is knocking and moving up to a higher octane will probably help. If it doesn't, have your engine timing checked.
Other than that, you should use the octane level your car or boat engine specifies. Using a higher octane will not provide you with any benefits, but it will make the oil companies richer!
Haven't seen it in NH, but in Florida many of the gas stations advertise no ethanol gasoline for boats.
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