Got it! For anyone with a similar problem, here is the fix.
I used the suggestions in Helgathevikings excellent post "http://forums.themeshaper.com/topic/thematic-menus-demystified-1"
and modified this code snippet:
// Remove the default Thematic Access
function remove_thematic_actions() {
remove_action('thematic_header','thematic_access',9);
}
add_action('init','remove_thematic_actions');
// My custom menu
function custom_childtheme_access(){?>
<div id="access">
<div class="skip-link"><a href="#content" title="<?php _e('Skip navigation to the content','thematic');?>"><?php _e('Skip to content','thematic');?></div>
<div class="menu">
<ul class="menu">
<li class="tab tab-home"><a href="#/">Home</a></li>
<li class="tab tab-1"><a href="#">About</a></li>
<li class="tab tab-2"><a href="#">Contact</a></li>
<li class="tab tab-3"><a href="#">Projects</a></li>
<li class="tab tab-4"><a href="#">Inspire</a></li>
<li class="tab tab-5"><a href="#">Featured</a></li>
<li class="tab tab-6"><a href="#">Advertise</a></li>
</ul>
</div><!-- #menu -->
</div><!-- #access -->
<?php }
add_action('thematic_header','custom_childtheme_access',9);
to this variation, showing only a home link and pages:
// Remove the default Thematic Access
function remove_thematic_actions() {
remove_action('thematic_header','thematic_access',9);
}
add_action('init','remove_thematic_actions');
// My custom menu
function custom_childtheme_access(){?>
<div id="access">
<div class="skip-link"><a href="#content" title="<?php _e('Skip navigation to the content','thematic');?>"><?php _e('Skip to content','thematic');?></div>
<div class="menu">
<ul class="sf-menu">
<li><a href="<?php bloginfo('url'); ?>/">Home</a></li>
<?php wp_list_pages('title_li='); ?>
</ul>
</div><!-- #menu -->
</div><!-- #access -->
<?php }
add_action('thematic_header','custom_childtheme_access',9);
It solved everything quite quickly. Thanks, Helga!