Okey dokey...
Started new career with same mods as noted in post #72, only in Aug 1939 - same CTD.
Took out the last mod I'd added, b25_SF_Grass_Full_V2, and replaced it with the "lighter" version of the same thing. Started another new career in Oct 39 and had no CTD.
Went through adding the rest of the mods I have on hand and would like to use and was able to get through the "trouble spot" in question without any more CTDs. Did get more of a mouse lag than I was happy with once all of them were enabled, especially just coming out of the busy home port area.
Took out FM_NewInterior and replaced it with DD's most recent version of the Open Hatch mod, which is no biggie since I was always happy with just that anyway. Given that I tend to spend all my game time going from nav map to bridge to control room to periscope, lather rinse repeat, I've got plenty enough with just DD's mod to keep me happy.
I tried that setup both with and without Stavanger "commented out" per bbw's instructions - was able to cruise all the way up past Bergen at 1024 TC both times with no noticeable difference in performance and no CTDs.
So I put Stavanger back into the mix in the Locations.cfg and will try starting a new "real" career with the current setup. I'm gonna assume for now that switching out the b25_SF_Grass_Full_V2 mod for its less intense cousin did the trick and hope for the best. Mostly I just want to PLAY again, lol.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your input, suggestions, and efforts to satisfy my curiosity about how different things work in the game. Goes without saying but you guys rock.