[Steve Harvey]

Hi James,
Earthshine depends upon the Earths albedo (reflectivity).

At the time around the New Moon, (from the perspective of the surface of the moon that faces the Earth) the Earth will be lit at a maximum – thus will reflect back to the moons surface at a maximum.
Spring for the Northern hemisphere has on average the highest albedo of the year.
Snow and Ice has the most affect upon albedo (far more so than water).
The affect is also seen at a maximum at moonrise and set.

[Steve Harvey]

Well despite looking as we could have had a sudden break in the clouds, Tórshavn remained frustratingly cloudy until a few minutes after C3. Pockets of coronal light breaking through gaps in the cloud could be seen in the bay lighting up small parts of the water ahead and below us.

I know that people at the airport got to see at least half of totality – hopefully others around the island also had better luck than us. 

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