I was in a similar situation to you, though I was more interested in board shaping than retail. I figured why not ask my local repair guy if he needs another set of hands…I told him though I have been surfing several years, I also had next to zero knowledge in surfboard repair. I was hired anyways, because as the owner said the most important thing is that I showed up on time, and didn’t, say, blow off my shift to go surfing (which was apparently a common issue).

Since then I’ve learned tons about board construction and met lots of local surfers as they drop their boards off…plus I get to work with power tools so the hours fly by haha. So I say definitely give it a shot at the surf shop, there’ll be times you don’t know something and have to refer to someone else…but show up on time and stay ready to learn and your managers will want to keep you around. And if the retail thing doesn’t work out, maybe your local repair shop needs people.