SUCCESS!!!
It tooks some bit of work, though. I had CTDs even with 3.2, so I removed it and this time got a crash even without it! So I took out all the mods, and it still crashed! "Well", thought I, "it looks like it's time for a fresh install."
"OH NO! I can't do a fresh install. Both my discs are somewhere in 500 square feet of storage space! It could take days to find them! And I don't want to go buy a third copy...I'm not rich!"
Then I remembered that I always keep a separate Stock 1.4b Data folder in a safe place, because sometimes I need a stock file for some reason on another. So I deleted the Data folder from SH3, made a copy of the spare and loaded it up. So now I'm looking at all the stock screens. "Hm, haven't seen those in awhile." And I load up the Museum. CRASH! So I try a campaign. CRASH!
I'm now thoroughly screwed, so what have I got to lose. I install GWX on top of it. I load up the Museum. CRASH! "Yup, thought so." I load up a campaign. "WHOA!" It loaded!
So, "What the heck?" I install MFM and start a new campaign. IT LOADED! So I set out the long way around Denmark from Kiel, just to keep the TC up, and docked in Liverpool (it's August, of course). What do you think I saw?
I saw several other ships as well, but they were all stock.
So it seems a complete fresh install of SH3 and GWX will do the trick, even if the 'install' is just a new stock Data folder. Needless to say, I'm happy as a clam. I'm thinking of installing the Skin Packs into SH3 Commander so they'll load by themselves at the appropriate dates.
AT LONG LAST LOVE!!!
[edit] I did notice one thing - both of the ships I saw in heavy weather were sinking because of it. Maybe they're small enought that that's to be expected. Just though I'd mention it.