The idea of the Scheldestroom began when the three Paulusse bros, returned from the 1900 'Paris Exposition Universelle '. Excited and repurposed-coinciding with the van Aalst sisters homecoming from their two years of work experience in London. The residues of their experiences made them visionaries innovators, entrepreneurs and critical thinkers devising their futures for the next 100 years. The klipper Scheldestroom is the embodiment of the Twentieth century. Launched in 1910, it sailed through the conflicts of a century of challenges, opportunities and human life transitions. A work of nonfiction yet a historical thriller, not told or written by academics but by extraordinary humble people, grounded in hundreds of letters postcards, cargo manifests and oral interviews and anecdotes.