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Why did early explorers mistake Hudson Bay for a possible route to the Pacific Ocean?

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Map of the Arctic region highlighting the Northwest Passage, a maritime route shown with a red line connecting the Atlantic Ocean near Greenland to the Pacific Ocean via the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, passing north of Canada and Alaska through the Bering Sea. Major islands and surrounding countries such as Russia, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), the United States (Alaska), and Canada are labeled.
Northwest Passage

Early explorers, including Henry Hudson, were led to believe that Hudson Bay might be a gateway to the Pacific Ocean primarily due to the observation of a "furious overfall" of water at the entrance to what is now known as Hudson Strait.12

This phenomenon, first described by the explorer George Weymouth in 1602, involved a powerful rush of water during the ebb tide. Navigators interpreted this intense current as evidence that a vast body of water—which they assumed to be the Pacific—lay beyond the strait, pushing water through the narrow opening. Based on this geographical theory, Hudson was confident that passing through the strait would provide a viable Northwest Passage to Asia. However, upon entering the bay in 1610, explorers found no such outlet, eventually leading to the realization that the region was an enclosed sea rather than a transit route.123