Mike, do you have binoculars? In your skies, you should be able to see some galaxies and that should help you work out where they are in the sky. Then its over to the finderscope and then your 8" with a long focal length eyepiece (26-30mm).
Targets I would suggest are M83 (as you have mentioned) M31, NGC 253 and NGC 4945. You might want to try for M33.
I find M83 by making a triangle with two bright stars in Hydra. First attached shows M83 location. Second attached, I have blown up the region. From those two bright stars in Hydra, I construct a triangle in my mind, so I go searching from the midpoint between the stars, directly out at 90 deg. You'll find it at the apex of a squashed equilateral triangle. Not bright, but it is there.
Tell us how you go.
Eric
