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Hi Stu,
First a cautionary note with the finder- unless you know where to look, what to look for, at a dark site and the object is bright enough, only then will you see a galaxy through the finder. The finder is only a guide to help with fine star hoping to the area where the object resides. A hard copy of a star chart comes into its own here.
As then the scope's field of view is much smaller than the finder's, use your widest view eyepiece first to help locate the object. Other than half a dozen galaxies, most are small fuzzy, underwhelming spots. And even the large ones are faint as galaxies have low surface brightness. The look nothing like they do in pictures.
Once you have the little sucker in place, you can then go about increasing the power on it. This serves the purpose of darkening the background skyglow and helps with contrast. But it also makes for a delicate image that demands attention- Not something to rush, our eyes need a little time to absorb the faint light and make out detail. Just be weary of cranking up too much power as the thing will move too quickly out of view. Medium power is a good next step. Moving a dob is a skill that develops.
Another note on observing is not to view faint objects directly. The most sensitive part of our eyesight surrounds our central vision. Look to one side of the object and let its light stimulate your eye for one moment, then 'magically' the object will appear brighter and with more detail. This is called "averted vision". It takes time to get the hang of it. Very soon it becomes second nature.
Try M104 first. It is up high enough around 10:30pm. Though it is in the constellation Virgo, try using Corvus as your stepping stones to it. M104 is really, really close to this easily made out small constellation.
Oh, and don't forget the magnificent globular cluster Omega Centauri. It is thought to be the remnant core of a galaxy long ago absorbed by our monstrous Milky Way. It is splendid in your 8", and it can take cranking up the power really well. It is located not too far from the Southern Cross. Its stellar population is markedly different from 'standard' globular clusters give away its true origin.
47 Tucana is another core remnant, which is located very close to the Small Magellanic Cloud (both Magellanic's are satellite galaxies to our MM), and both globulars are visible to the naked eye from a dark site, and easily pinged with the smallest of binoculars.
Here is where if you can get to a star party it can really help make sense of what I'm ranting about. Experienced eyes will help guide yours a little better in the field than on a screen.
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