Gelcoat or Paint Rough/Textured Bilge Fiberglass

[Ryban]

I'm cleaning out our bilges and would like to paint them for aesthetics, but mostly so it's easier to find issues and clean. The shallow portion of the bilge was painted at one point but is now mostly flaked-off or flaking off.

The fiberglass surface is a very rough, woven cloth, as can be seen in the photo below. I've done quite a lot of research on bilge paints. People seem to like Bilgekote a lot, but I've also heard people recommend two-part paints. I'm sure both hold up very well if the surface is properly prepped.

The other option I'm considering is gelcoat, primarily to fill the weave of the cloth and create a smooth surface in the bilge. This would make cleaning a lot easier if nothing else.

Obviously one of these solutions is easier than the other one, but I'm curious to what people's thoughts are.